


Duel School!

by DragonsFairy24



Series: Reborn Connections [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonsFairy24/pseuds/DragonsFairy24
Summary: The story of Yugi and Lilly is over, but that doesn't mean that new heroes aren't around the corner. Can Jaden and Rose live up to their idols? Or will they fall short? With how head strong these two are, there is no way they aren't going down without a fight!





	1. Meeting My Idol!

**Author's Note:**

> Since they never finished dubbing the series, I will be suing both the dub and sub version with English names, if I can remember them.
> 
> Episode(s): None

            “I’m so excited!” yelled a 15 year old girl. She had long light purple hair that went down past her butt and deep blue eyes like the ocean. She had on a black skirt that stopped mid-thigh, a white blouse with a dark purple jacket over. She had on black boots that stopped just before her knee. She had a duel disk on and her deck in a pack on her right leg.

            Her body type was athletic. She had a small tummy, but she didn’t care much about it. She wasn’t bulky like a body builder, but you can tell that she worked out. Her butt was big and round while her breast were double D’s, though she never really flaunted them.

            The girl was currently in a game shop, looking at duel monster cards.

            “Well someone is happy,” said an old man as he got the purchases together for the girl after she had picked the cards she wanted.

            “Yeah! I’m going to try out for Duel Academy tomorrow!” said the girl.

            “That’s very good! You know, my grandson and his fiancé happen to be very good duelist!” said the old man with a fond smile.

            “Really!” said the girl excitedly. “I hope to be as good as the Queen of Games, Lilly!”

            “Ho-ho! You must really look up to her.”

            “I do! I hope to meet her one day!” said the girl with such happiness.

            “Well you never know, she might be closer than you think,” said the old man mysteriously as he glanced outside the door. He gave the girl her purchases.

            “Thank you, sir! I hope you have a good day!” said the girl as she walked toward the exit.

            “Good luck!” said the old man with a smile.

            “Thanks!” said the girl as she opened the door and walked out, only to walk into someone else and fall over.

            “Are you okay?” asked the voice of a women.

            “Yes! I’m so sorry!” said the girl as she stood up and bowed to the women. She then looked up to meet the women’s eyes.

            “Its fine,” said the women with a smile.

            “You-you-you’re the Queen of Games!” said the girl.

            “That’s me!” Lilly said with a laugh as she looked at the girl and noticed her duel disk. “Oh, you’re a duelist? Are you going to attend the academy?”

            “Yes miss! My name is Rose! I will try out tomorrow,” said the girl, now named Rose.

            “That’s good!” said Lilly with a smile. “Well, I should be going, I have to meet up with my fiancé to pick our cake!”

            “Congratulations!” said Rose with a smile. **‘I can’t believe I’m talking to my idol!’**

            “Thanks!” said Lilly as she was about to leave. She then stopped and pulled something out of her jacket pocket. “Here. Have this.”

            “Wh-what?” said Rose as she took the item from Lilly. It was a beautiful purple bracelet that had beautiful rose designs on it.

            “It matches your name and hair color! It’s part of my new jewelry collection!” said Lilly with a bright smile.

            “Th-Thank you!” said Rose as she took the bracelet and put it on her left wrist. **‘My idol just gave me the coolest present ever!’**

            “Sure thing,” said Lilly as she turned to walk off. She lifted her hand in the air and waved. “Bye! I know you can make it! Don’t let me down!”

            “B-bye! I won’t!” said Rose as she watched Lilly leave. Rose smiled to herself and looked at her bracelet. “Today has been such a good day! I can’t wait for tomorrow!”

            Rose then turned and walked toward her home, a big smile on her face and determination in her eyes.


	2. The One Who Inherits the Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 1

Episode(s): 1

            “Alright,” said Rose as she put on her jacket and grabbed her duel disk. She then ran out of her room and down the stairs.

            “Bye Miss Rose,” said a maid as Rose ran out the door.

            “Would you like me to drive you?” asked the butler.

            “No but thank you! Bye!” yelled Rose as she ran to the gate and left toward were the tryouts were.

            “This is going to be such a good day!” yelled Rose.

**_~ After 30 Minutes of running~_ **

            “This is it,” said Rose as she stopped to compose herself. She walked up to the sign in desk.

            “Hello miss! Are you here for the tryouts?” asked a woman at the desk.

            “Yes! My name is Rose,” said Rose to the women with a smile.

            “Last name please,” asked the women.

            “Heartfilia,” said Rose with a smile.

            “Please go to the third arena and wait for your turn,” said the women with a smile after she found the information she needed.

            “Alright! Thanks!” said Rose with a smile.

            Rose then walked into the building and started to look around for arena three. After a few minutes of wondering around, she found the area and walked up to the attendant there.

            “Hello, my name is Rose and I’m here to take my entrance exam,” said Rose with a smile.

            “Right this way!” said the man.

            “Right,” said Rose as she walked up to the arena.

            “Hello young lady,” said a blond professor who looked kind of creepy.

            “Hello!” said Rose with a smile. **‘Are they a male or female? Are the transitioning?’**

            “And who might you be?!” said the professor as he and the testing proctor walked up to her.

            “My name is Rose.”

            “Well then Rose, let’s duel!”

            “Wait!” yelled a voice casing everyone to look at the source. It was a male student wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform. He had dark Blue hair and eyes and was quite tall.

            “Zane, what’s wrong?” asked the professor.

            “Professor Crowler, isn’t it true that once a prospective student places first in a high-end duel tournament, they get automatic entrance into the academy?” asked the man named Zane as he looked at Rose.

            “Well, yes,” said the now named Professor Crowler.

            “That girl is Rose Heartfilia, winner of Americas first all women tournament,” said Zane.

            “Har-Hartfilia?” said Professor Crowler in shock.

“Did he just say Heartfilia?” said someone.

 **‘I hate it when people talk about me like that. I’m more than just a name. I really hope I find some people who want to be friends with me for me, not because of my name,’** thought Rose.

            “Mi-miss Heartfilia, I had no idea!” said Professor Crowler in shock. “Please, due to you winning the tournament you do not need to tryout.”

            “No,” said Rose, shocking everyone

            “Wh-what?” asked Crowler in shock.

            “I wish to duel for my spot, not be handed it because I previously won a tournament. Just because I won that tournament doesn’t mean that I am that good. It just means I was better than my opponents at the time. Please, duel me,” said Rose with confidence causing everyone to look at her.

            **‘This girl is interesting,’** thought Zane with a smirk.

            “Ri-right,” said Crowler as he nodded to the proctor.

            “Let’s duel!” said the two as the two started.

            “I’ll go first!” said Rose as she drew a card. “I play one card face down and place my Flowered Child in defense mode. I end my turn.”

            Her monster looked to be a young girl with blond hair and a green eyes with a matching dress with flowers in her hair and a basket filled with flowers.

            “Very well then, my turn,” said the proctor as he drew a card. “I play Flamed Swordsman and then place one facedown. I end my turn.”

            “I play my facedown card. Double Destruction. This card allows me to summon another higher-level monster and use both to attack you. I summon my Guardian Rose Knight!” said Rose as a male Knight appeared on the field. He had red armor and a sword in the shape of a rose. “Now attack!”        

            “I play my trap!” yelled the proctor, only for it not to work. “What’s going on?”

            “My trap card has a special affect that allows me to activate any other trap card I have in my hand when my opponent plays their trap card. I chose Reflect!

            Rose’s monster attacked Corwler’s monster and then his trap card reflected against him sending Rose’s monsters to attack him again. This left Crowler with half of his life points.

            **‘She’s good,’** thought Zane as he watched.

            “I play one card facedown and end my turn,” said Rose as she placed a monster card down.

**_~Two moves later~_ **

            “Looks like I win!” said Rose with a smile as the last of the proctor’s life points disappeared.

            “So, it seems Miss Heartfilia,” said Professor Crowler as he walked onto the stage.

            “Thank you!” said Rose as she went to walk to the stands **. ‘That felt good.’**

            “Hey beautiful!” said a voice causing Rose to stop and her left eye to start twitching. She looked to her left to see a boy with dark hair and eyes in an Obelisk Blue uniform smirking at her. “Why don’t you sit with the Chazz!”

            “No thank you,” said Rose as she walked all the way to the top. **‘Stupid ass.’**

            “That was so cool!” said a voice once she stopped. She turned her head to the left to look at a guy who was wearing a red shirt, black jacket and jeans. His hair reminded her of a Kuriboh.

            **‘Kuriboh is so cute,’** thought Rose absentmindedly.

            “Thanks,” she said with a smile.

            “My name is Jaden Yuki! I hope we get to duel someday!” said the now named Jaden with a bright smile.

            “I would like that too,” said Rose with a smile. **‘He seems so genuine.’**

            “Jaden Yuki to exam field four,” said a voice over the speaker.

            “Go time! Wish me luck guys!” said Jaden, referring to the other two guys he was talked to before Rose showed up.

            “Hey, wait,” said the one sitting down. He wore an all-white uniform.

            “Huh?” said Jaden as he stopped to look at him.

            “If I’m the second best, who’s first?”

            “Yours truly!” said Jaden, pointing at himself. “It’s what I’m best at.”

            “Wow! He’s so full of himself. I wonder if he’s really that good,” said the shorter one with blue hair.

            “He’s going to need to be. Look who he’s dueling,” said the one sitting down.

            “That guy?” said Rose in annoyance.

            “You don’t seem to like him much,” said the one standing.

            “Yeah. He seems like he thinks he’s better than everyone else. He’s supposed to be a professor. He’s supposed to nurture his students, not be an ass to them.”

            “True,” said the one sitting down.

            “Oh! By the way, my name is Syrus Truesdale,” said the one with light blue hair.

            “My name is Rose,” said Rose.

            “As in Rose Heartfilia? I wanted to watch you duel, but I myself was dueling. I only caught the ending. My name is Bastion Misawa,” said the one sitting down.

            “Heartfilia?” said Syrus in shock.

            “Is it alright if I sit next to you, Bastion?” asked Rose.

            “Of course,” said Bastion as he moved a little to his right to make room for Rose.

            “Let’s so how he does,” said Rose as she sat down to watch Jaden duel.

**_~Duel Starts~_ **

            “So, son, your name?” asked Crowler.

            “Uh, Jaden. Jaden Yuki,” said Jaden as he stood straight.

            “Well, uh, Jaden Yuki,” said Crowler in a mocking voice, “I’m Dr. Vellian Crowler, Department Chair of Techniques here at Duel Academy.”

            “Wow, a department chair, I had no idea, from how you were dressed, I was thinking you were some weird academy mascot,” laughed Jaden with an honest smile.

            “Well then, he doesn’t know how to hold back,” said Rose with a giggle as Crowler got mad.

            “It seems not,” replied Bastion.

            “Lets duel!” said the two.

            “Here goes,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Sweet. I’m going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode! I’ll also throw down a face down. Alright! Get your game on!”

            “Yes,” said Crowler as he drew a card. “Alright, for this first move, I think I’ll start nice and easy. I choose to play the spell card Confiscation!”

            “Okay, so what’s it do?”

            “What it does is allow me to pay 1,000 life points for the chance to peak at your hand and toss one of your cards into the graveyard!

            “Oh, yes, I remember some of these from back when I was a naïve rookie!” said Crowler as the cards appeared before him, “Hmm, now which shall I banish? Monster Reborn to the graveyard! Next, I’ll lay two cards facedown on the field. And last, but not least, I’ll play Heavy Storm!

            “This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that’s out on the field!”

            “Whoopsie! Did you forget that you had two trap cards out on the field, yourself?!” asked Jaden.

            “Now, now, you mustn’t speak out of turn, young scholar!” said Crowler with a chuckle as everything went dark around them.

            “What’s happening?”

            “Nothing’s happening. Not yet!” said Crowler as two monster appeared. “But that’s about to change!”

            “Uh, could somebody tell me what’s going on?” asked Syrus.

            “The two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had on the field were called Statue of the Wicked,” said Rose.

            “It’s a special trap that creates a vicious token monster when destroyed,” said Bastion.

            “That’s why he played Heavy Storm,” concluded Rose as she glared at Crowler. “He’s not using a test deck, isn’t he?”

            “Your right,” said Bastion. “He’s probably using his own personal deck.”

            “That’s not fair,” said Syrus.

            “No, it’s not,” said Rose with narrow eyes. **‘What a horrible teacher.’**

            “Ready for your next lesson?” asked Crowler with a smug look.

            “You bet!” laughed Jaden. “I can’t remember the last time learning was this much fun!”

            “Yes, well, I’m quite an excellent teacher, thank you,” said Crowler, accepting the complement. “And now, I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens and summon Ancient Gear Golem!”

            Everyone gasped in surprise.

            “That’s a legendary rare card!” gasped Rose.

            “What?” said Syrus in shock.

            “She’s right,” replied Bastion. “He’s definitely using his own deck.”

            “Now, now, I hope you’re not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem!”

            “Aw, no way!” smiled Jaden. “I’ve always wanted to take one on!”

            “Either Jaden’s Brave or he’s nuts!” said Syrus.

            “Golem, attack!” laughed Crowler. “Mechanized Melee!”

            “Aw, Jaden’s monster didn’t stand a chance!” said Syrus after the monster was destroyed. “His defense points were way too low! This isn’t looking good.”

            “And it’s about to look a lot worse,” said Bastion as Rose nodded.

            “When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the defending monster’s defense points gets dealt to the opponent as damage,” said Rose.

            “That would mean,” said Syrus in shock, “Jaden’s life points are gonna take a hit!”

            “That looks bad,” said Rose as Jaden’s life points went down to 2,000.

            “Don’t feel bad,” laughed Crowler, “this is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren’t cut out for-“

            “Boy, I really want to come to this school now,” laughed Jaden. “You really know your stuff, teach!

            “Ok, I summon Winged Kuriboh, in defense mode!” said Jaden after he drew a card. “And I’ll place one card facedown.”

            “So cute,” said Rose with hearts in her eyes causing the other two boys to look at her.

            “Really?” chuckled Bastion with a raised eyebrow.

            “I can’t help that I like cute things,” mumbled Rose as she moved her left foot around on the floor.

            **‘She’s so cute,’** thought Syrus with a blush.

            **‘Nice to know she isn’t as tuff as rumors make her out to be,’** thought Bastion with a chuckle.

            “Now let’s proceed,” said Crowler as he drew a card, “with the legendary Ancient Gear Golem! Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee! Check your gear, your life points haven’t changed.”

            “My gear’s fine,” said Jaden with a smile. “On the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero damage.”

            “Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there.”

            “Hey. Slow down there, teach,” said Jaden in anger, “you may have beat him, but that doesn’t give you the right to call him lame!”

            “Oh, yes, I forget how attached you new duelists get to your monsters. I’m sorry.”

            “Yeah, well, you should be, because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh, you set off a trap card, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal! And that brings out my second Elemental Hero: Burstinatrix!

            “My turn,” continued Jaden as he drew a card. “First off, I’m going to bring back Avian to my hand with the spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive! And now I’m going to summon him to the field!”

            “Oh, ok, another amateurish mistake but this is good. This is good,” said Crowler condescendingly. “Now, would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong-“

            “Yeah, actually, I wasn’t done yet,” interrupted Jaden. “See, I know my two heroes aren’t very powerful by themselves. But, if I can form them together, it’s another story! And I have just the card to unite them! Polymerization! Join Avian and Burstinatrix! Fusion Summon! There he is, the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! I hope your Gear Golem is ready for a clash of the titans!”

            “He might still be in this,” said Rose with a smile.

            “So, teach, what do you think?”

            “I think you’re dueling very well for an amateur. But, next time, try playing a monster that has more attack points than what’s already out,” said Crowler codependently.

            “What’s he mean?” asked Syrus.

            “He means that Wingman’s attack points are no match for his Golem’s 3,000, Shame, too, because when the Wingman destroys a monster, that monster’s attack points are dealt as damage to its owner,” said Bastion.

            “Wait, you mean they’re deducted right out of his life points?” asked Syrus in shock.

            “Yup,” said Rose.

            “Aw, that would’ve been a great way for Jaden to turn things around.”

            “Well, if your friend’s as good as he says he is, he might still find a way,” said Bastion with a smirk.

            “Wow, did we really seem like friends?” asked Syrus causing the other two to look at each other.

            **‘Someone doesn’t have a lot of friends,’** thought Bastion.

            **‘Poor thing,’** thought Rose.

            “Alright, young scholar, I don’t mean to rush you, but I am a busy man!” said Crowler. “Are you done yet?”

            “Of course, I’m not done yet!” said Jaden as he got ready to play a card. “And of course, I know my Wingman had less attack points that your golem! That’s why I have this! Skyscraper! GO!”

            “Wow,” said Rose as she looked on.

            “Alright Flame Wingman go show those heroics and attack that Ancient Gear Golem!”

            “Fine with me,” smirked Crowler, “Bring him on! This silly little Skyscraper field card hasn’t lowered my Golem’s attack level by one point!”

            “You know what, teach, you’re right!” smiled Jaden. “This Skyscraper field hasn’t lowered your golem’s attack points, what it’s done is raise my Elemental Hero Wingman’s by a towering grand total of 1,000!”

            “Wait! Time out!” yelled Crowler.

            “GO, Skydive Scorcher!”

            Everyone gasped as the attack landed and Crowler’s life points went down to zero.          “That’s game!” said Jaden striking a pose. “So, I guess that means I pass the test, huh teach?

            “That was good,” said Rose as she watched as everyone clapped and cheered.

            “Alright! Yeah Jaden!” yelled Syrus.

            “He looks happy,” said Bastion as they watched Jaden cheer.

            “Today has been a good day,” said Rose with a smile, causing the other two to smile as they continue to watch Jaden cheer.


	3. Flame Wingman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 2

            “Attention new Duel Academy students, if you look outside your windows, you’ll see your new home away from home,” said the pilot causing everyone to look outside their windows. “Now, now. I know you are excited, but there is no need to scream or shout. Quite the sight, ehh? Now then, fasten your seatbelts and move your seat back into the upright position. We’re going into land. Nest stop, Academy island.”

            Once the plane landed, the new students started to pile out.

            “Alright everyone! Get into two lines, one for girls and one for boys. We need your name and we will give you your uniform,” said a man.

            “Guess this is where we split up,” said Rose as she walked to the girl’s line.

            “See you later Rose!” said Jaden in excitement.

            “Do you ever calm down?” asked Bastion as he walked with the others to the guys line.

**_~After Some Time Waiting~_ **

            “Name?” said the lady in front of Rose.

            “Rose Heartfilia,” replied Rose.

            “Miss Heartfilia, here is your uniform, information about your dorm, and your class schedule along with required text and materials. Congratulations on getting into Obelisk Blue,” said the woman as she handed Rose everything.

            “Thank you!” said Rose with a smile as she collected her things **. ‘Though it isn’t that hard since girl automatically get put into Obelisk Blue.’**

 She then walked to the girls’ bathroom and began to change. She put on a blue skirt that stopped mid-thigh, a white sleeveless jacket with blue trimming that stopped at her waist, she left it unbuttoned, and a light blue belt she hung loosely around her hips. She also put on a black tank-top under her jacket and kept her black boots. What was noticeable about the change was the fact that her chest was more noticeable then before.

            “All those who have changed, please go to room 1A,” said a voice over the loud speaker.

            “Guess I should go there,” said Rose as she left the bathroom with everything.

**_~In Class 1A~_ **

            Students continue to file in as they were instructed to stand in line. After the last student walked in, a video started playing. A man appeared on screen with a bright and warm smile.

            “Good morning and welcome, my students. I’m Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here and you are the best and brightest young duelist in the world! Now please, get yourself settled into your assigned dorms. I think you’ll find them quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked course,” he laughed at the end.

            “Uh, Jaden?” asked Syrus as he looked at the sleeping teen.

            “Up,” said Rose as she smacked Jaden in the back of the head.

            “I’m up! I’m up!” yelled Jaden as he held his head.

            “You shouldn’t be asleep!” yelled Rose as she started to reprimand him.

            “Sorry! But I was so excited last night that I didn’t sleep,” laughed Jaden as he rubbed his head. Rose eyes softened.

            “Well, next time, make sure to get some sleep. You need to be awake for your classes,” she said with a smile as the three started to walk out of the classroom and into the yard.

            “Well, I don’t know about you, Sy, but it looks like I’m in the Slifer Red dorm,” said Jaden as he looked at device.

            “That’s cool, same with me,” said Syrus.

            Jaden looked up about to ask Rose where she was when Bastion walked by.

            “Hey, you in Red too?” asked Jaden to Bastion, causing the other boy to stop and look at him.

            “Well now, let’s see here. Yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I don’t think so,” said Bastion with a smirk causing Rose to laugh and the boys to look at her.

            “I’m wearing blue, so no,” she said answering Jaden’s unasked question.

            “Oh, I get it. So that’s why Sy and I are in red,” said Jaden as he looked at himself.

            “Please don’t tell me that you just figured that out now,” said Bastion as he looked at Jaden in disappointment.

            “Why am I not surprised?” question Rose as she looked at Jaden with a sweat drop. **‘I’ve barely known him for a day and I can already tell that he normally doesn’t think that often.’**

             “So, what! Ever think I’m colored blind?” said Jaden in annoyance.

            “Well, no actually, I didn’t. Are you color blind?” asked Bastion in curiosity, thinking he had offended him. Jaden laughed.

            “No, but I could have been. See you around the dorms!”

            “I doubt that, your dorm is over there,” said Bastion as he pointed in a different direction then where he was going. He then turned to Rose. “I can walk you half way to your dorm since Ra Yellow is before Obelisk Blue.”

            “Thanks!” said Rose as she and Bastion turned to leave. “Later guys!”

            “Bye Rose! Bastion!” yelled Jaden as they separated.

            “Jaden must have applied without even really doing any research about the academy,” said Rose after they got some distance away from the two.

            “I have to agree with you, but I have a feeling that he might be more entertaining than anyone else,” replied Bastion with a smirk.

            “Agreed,” said Rose as the two then started to talk about what they thought life would be like in the academy.

**_~A few Minutes Later~_ **

            “Well, this is my stop,” said Bastion as he turned to the Ra Yellow dorms.

            “Okay, see you later Bastion!” waved Rose as she continued her walk.

            “Later!” replied Bastion as he went inside.

            “Now to my dorm,” said Rose as she walked with a smile. **‘I can’t believe it! It’s not even my first day and I can tell I’ve already made three friends!’**

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

            “So, this is the Obelisk Blue girl’s dorm?” question Rose as she looked at the building. “I better find someone to ask where exactly I should go.”

            “Are you lost?” asked a female voice. Rose turned to see a blond girl wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform.

            “Yes! I’m new and I just need to find where my dorm is,” said Rose with a smile. The girl smiled back at her.

            “I can help you. My name is Alexis Rhodes. You’re Rose Heartfilia, right? I saw your duel and thought you were great!”

            “Oh? Thanks!” said Rose as she showed Alexis her device with her room number on it.

            “Your room is right next to mine. I’ll take you to it.”

            The two girls walked to the dorm, talking all the way.

            “So, Professor Crowler is always like that?” asked Rose in shock.

            “Yeah,” said Alexis with a sigh as the two go to the door. “Well, this is your room!”

            “Thanks!”

            “Hey! Aren’t you Rose Heartfilia?” said a voice. The two girls turned around to see a whole bunch of girls looking at them.

            **‘Where did they all come from?’** thought the two girls with a sweat drop.

            “Yes,” said Rose.

            “Are you going to battle Alexis for the title of Queen of Obelisk Blue?” asked one of the girls.

            “Uh, no,” said Rose as she looked at everyone. “I just got here and want to get a feel for the place before I do anything.”

            “Cool,” said some of the girls.

            “Weird,” whispered Rose causing Alexis to nod.

            “We can always duel later to satisfy them,” said Alexis to Rose, though everyone else heard her and started to squeal.

            “I think that would be fun,” said Rose as she opened the room and started to walk in.

            “Do you need help unpacking? I can also help you if you need anything else,” said Alexis as she looked into Rose’s room to see a lot of luggage.

            “That would be nice,” said Rose as she let Alexis in.

**_~After an Hour~_ **

            “So that’s why they were excited?” asked Rose.

            “Yeah. Everyone saw your duel during the American Tournament as well as your duel to get in here,” said Alexis as the two girls walked out of the room.

            “Interesting,” mumbled Rose.

            “Anyway, I have to go get Chazz Princeton for the welcome dinner,” said Alexis as she started to walk away.

            “I’ll go with you. Not like I have anything better to do,” said Rose as she followed Alexis.

**_~Sometime Later~_ **

            “Where is he?” asked Alexis as the two walked into one of the dueling arenas.

            “There are some people over there,” said Rose as they walked around the arena.

            “This sure is a motley crew,” said Alexis as the two girls walked up to the boys, shocking them.

            “Rose!” said Syrus with a smile, happy to see one of his new friends. “Who is she with?”

            “Hey Rose, Alexis,” said the guy who tried to flirt with Rose during the tryouts. “Here to see me mop the flower with my new little friend, Jaden, here? It’ll be a short duel, but an entertaining one for sure.”

            “We’re here to remind you of the Obelisk welcome dinner. You’re late, Chazz!” said Alexis with annoyance.

            “Oh yeah. Come on guys,” said Chazz as he and his two lackeys left.

            “Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way. All of us Obelisk are not like that. He’s just a jerk. Especially with Slifers,” said Alexis with a scowl.

            “And a horrible flirt,” said Rose with annoyance causing Jaden to back away from here.

            **‘I feel like she might hit me again,’** though Jaden in fear.

            “It’s no big deal!” said Jaden, shocking the others. “Those types don’t really bother me at all. Besides! I can beat them in one turn!”

            “We’re going to have to work on that over confidence,” said Syrus in shock.

            “No kidding,” said Rose with a laugh.

            “Okay, two turns! Maybe two and a half,” said Jaden, causing the two girls to laugh.

            “The Slifer welcome dinner is about to start to,” said Alexis.

            “Right, we better go Sy!” said Jaden as he started running.

            “Hey! Wait up!” yelled Syrus after him. After a few feet, Jaden turned around to look at the two girls.

            “Hey! What was your name again?” asked Jaden. “I know Rose.”

            “Alexis Rhodes, and yours?” asked Alexis with a smile.

            “The names Jaden! Alright, see you around! Talk to you later Rose and you look great in your uniform, by the way!” yelled Jaden as he and Syrus left.

            “Aren’t you going to introduce me!” the two girls heard Syrus yell.

            “Silly Jaden,” said Rose with a blush, causing Alexis to laugh at her.

            “Let’s go,” said Alexis as she turned back to the dorms.

            “Yeah,” said Rose as she followed her.

**_~During the Welcome Dinner~_ **

            “This is nice,” said Rose as she and Alexis talked to some of the other girls.

            “I saw your duel during the American Tournament! You did so good!” said one of the girls.

            “Thank you!” said Rose with a smile.

            “Your hair is so pretty!” said another.

            “Thanks! Can you guys tell me more about the school?” asked Rose as the others agreed and started to tell her all she needed to know about the school.

**_~Later That Night~_ **

            “I have a miss message?” said Rose once she and Alexis were walking back to their rooms. She was looking at her device when she noticed it.

            “From who?” asked Alexis as she looked over.

            “Syrus,” said Rose as she opened it. “It says that Chazz challenged Jaden to a duel.”

            “Well, we better go check on them,” said Alexis. “If they get caught, they’ll be in big trouble.”

            “Yeah,” said Rose as the two turned around and walk off toward the main school building.

**_~After a Refreshing Walk~_ **

            “We should have known,” said Rose as she and Alexis walked into the arena, shocking everyone.

            “Alexis? Rose?” asked Syrus as the two girls walked up to him.

            “Chthonian Polymer’s a nasty trap,” said Alexis as the girls stopped next to Syrus.

            “It allows you to take control of an opponent’s fusion monster by sacrificing one of your own creatures,” finished Rose.

            “Oh no! Jaden just summoned a fusion monster!” said Syrus as he turned to watch the battle.

            “Don’t worry. I’m sure Jaden can win this,” said Rose.

            “I sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of your Wingman,” said Chazz with a smirk.

            “Aw, my monster,” said Jaden.

            “How did Chazz know to play that?” asked Syrus.

            “You’re so predictable, Jaden,” said Chazz arrogantly. “You wouldn’t stop talking about that Wingman at the exam, so I’d know you’d use him soon.”

            “Still, since that Wingman was a special summon, that means I’m allowed to summon another monster during my turn,” said Jaden as he looked at his hand. “Alright, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode. There, all set.”

            “Yeah, set up to get knocked down,” said Chazz after he drew a card. “Rise, Chthonian Soldier. And now, Flame Wingman, attack with Sky-Dive Scorcher. And now thanks to Wingman’s super power, your life points take damage equal to your destroyed monster’s attack points.

            “But don’t think that I’m done yet Slifer slacker, Chthonian Soldier attack, Windstorm Slash!”

            They watched as his life points go down to 2,000.

            “Are you starting to know your place here at the Academy yet? Maybe you were somebody back at home, but here in the big leagues, you’re nothing but a pathetic little amateur, Slifer slime. I’ll end my turn with a facedown card,” smirked Chazz. “Go ahead, slacker.”

Not long after Jaden started laughing as he played.

            “This is too fun!” he said happily.

            “What!” yelled Chazz.

            “Just what I came for! Man! I mean the trash talking, the action, it’s all so great!”

            “What the?” said Chazz in shock.

            “Why am I not surprised that he’s happy about this?” said Rose with a sweat drop, causing the other two to laugh.

            “I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman. Alright Sparkman, attack with Static Shockwave.”

            This attack brought Chazz life points to 3,600. He was then attacked by a sword, lowering his life points to 1,600.

            “Still think it’s great slacker?” asked Chazz. “Because when Chthonian Solder is destroyed, you receive the same amount of damage to your life points as I do. Deference is that you hardly have any to spare.”

            “Jaden,” said Rose as she watched them.

            “It’s just a matter of time, slacker,” said Chazz with a laugh. “Your best card’s about to be all mine.”

            “This isn’t over yet,” said Jaden as he put a card down. “I put down a facedown.”

            “Play what you like. My next attack will finish off your life points, and that attack’s coming right now. Go, Flame Wingman!”

            “Not so fast!” yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. “That’s was a trap card I just threw!”

            “A trap?” asked Chazz.

            “It’s Mirror Gate!” said Syrus.

            “That means that Jaden is still in this duel after all,” said Alexis.

            “Mirror Gate makes two monsters in a battle switch which side they’re on,” said Rose with a smile. “That means that Wingman is back on Jaden’s side!”

            “Yeah! Go Wingman!” said Jaden. Chazz’s life points went down to 3,100. “And just like you told me a while ago, don’t forget my Wingman’s super power. You take damage equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster.”

            “Alright!” said Syrus in happiness as Jaden flashed them the peace sign. Chazz’s like points went down to 1,500.

            “Nice moves Jaden,” said Alexis with a smile.

            “You are a great duelist,” said Rose with a smile. Jaden laughed as a result.

            “More like lucky moves if ya ask me, you Slifer school scum” said Chazz in anger. “alright, I activate Chthonian Blast. Now, since you destroyed one of my monsters, I can destroy one of yours, and you take damage equal to half of its attack points.”

            “Flame Wingman,” said Jaden as his life points went down to 550.

            “Now I activate the trap card, Call of the Haunted.  It lets me select one monster card from my graveyard and summon it back to the field in attack mode. Rise, Infernal Warrior! But he won’t be staying on the field for long, because I’m going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist The Infernal General.”

            “Not bad,” said Jaden.

            “Not bad?” asked Chazz. “You’re something else, slacker, you know that? Acting all confident. But your lousy Monsters won’t get you out of this jam.”

            The group continue to watch the duel until Alexis turned in shock.

            “Guys! We have company! Campus security!” said Alexis causing the duel to stop.

            “If they find us all in here, we will be seriously busted!” said Rose, shocking Syrus and Jaden.

            “What!” yelled Syrus in shock.

            “Why? I mean, we’re all students here,” said Jaden with a scared look.

            “The rules say no off-hour arena duels. Chazz knows that!” said Alexis accusingly. Chazz blushed and looked away. “But let me guess: He didn’t tell you.”

            “Come on! Let’s go,” said one of Chazz’s lackeys.

            “Well, well slacker. Looks like you lucked out this time,” said Chazz as he turned away.

            “What are you talking about! The match isn’t over!’ said Jaden.

            “Yeah it is. I’ve seen what I came to see. You’re a sorry duelist. You beating Dr. Crowler was just a fluke,” said Chazz as he and his group left.

            “Jaden!” said Syrus seriously. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

            “Yeah! He’s right!” said Alexis.

            “Come on Jaden!” said Rose with a glare, scaring Jaden.

            “Co-Coming,” he said as he followed her.

            “She’s good,” said Syrus.

            “Yeah,” nodded Alexis as they followed the two.

**_~Outside~_ **

            “You certainly are stubborn,” said Alexis as Syrus pushed Jaden.

            “Only about my dueling,” said Jaden, annoyed with the situation.

            “Thanks for showing us the back way out,” said Syrus to the girls.

            “Sure,” said Alexis.

            “Sorry that you didn’t get to finish your duel with Chazz,” said Rose to Jaden.

            “It’s okay! I know just how it would have ended anyway,” said Jaden with a smirk and his eyes close. Rose walked up and stood in front of his face.

            “Is that so?” she asked him as he opened his eyes to look at her.

            “Yeah. Especially after I drew this!” he said, showing the other his Monster Reborn card and explained how he would have won.

            “Hmm,” said Rose in shock as she continued to look at him. He stared into her eyes and smiled.

            “Well, see you two later!” said Jaden as he started to walk away.

            “Wait for me!” yelled Syrus as he ran after Jaden.

            **‘This is going to be an interesting year,’** thought Alexis as she watched the two leave. She then looked at Rose. **‘I wonder if that is something waiting to happen.’**

            “Let’s go Alexis,” said Rose as she turned away to go back to the dorms.

            “Yeah,” said Alexis as she followed her **. ‘I guess only time will tell.’**


	4. A Duel In Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 3

           “Duel Monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, affect cards, trap cards, and spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into normal traps, counter traps, and continues traps. Spell cards can be separated into normal spells, continues spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells, and field spells,” said Rose as she stood to answer Dr. Crowler’s question.

            “Per-fect! Well done Rose! Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from one of my Obelisk Blue,” said Crowler with a smile.

            “Yes, Dr. Crowler,” said Rose in fake happiness. **‘I still think you’re an asshole.’**

            “Hmm. Now who should we question next?” asked Crowler as he looked around. His eyes focused on Syrus. “You! Syrus Truesdale!

            “Huh?” said Syrus as he stood up.

            “Explain to the class what a Field Spell is, please,” said Crowler with a not so kind smile.

            “Um,” started Syrus as he started to get nervous and mess up what he was trying to say.

            “Even pre-duelers know the answer to this you Slifer Slacker!” yelled a random Obelisk Blue boy making the other Obelisk Blues laugh except for Rose and Alexis.

            “Relax Sy, you totally got this,” said Jaden in a reassuring voice.

            “I think not. Now sit down,” said Crowler condescendingly. “Now will someone please give me the answer. Preferably someone not wearing red, thank you.”

            The Obelisk Blue students started to laugh while Rose simply glared.

            **‘What an ass. Syrus is a shy guy,’** thought Rose as she continued to glare.

            “You know something teach?” asked Jaden, causing everyone to look at him. “You really shouldn’t go making fun of us Slifers like that.”

            “Huh?” said Crowler, looking up at Jaden.

            “I mean, I’m a Slifer and I beat ya. So, when you make fun of us, you’re really making fun of yourself!” said Jaden as he began to laugh. The other Slifers began to laugh as well. Crowler started to bite on his handkerchief.

            **‘Well said Jaden,’** though Rose as she and Alexis started to giggle.

**_~Next Class~_ **

            “As some of you students know, my name is Professor Liam Banner.” Said Banner as he stroked his pet cat while sitting at the front of the class. “I specialize in some of the lesser known tactics and strategies in the world of duel monsters. Some that a few might even consider to be unnatural. Duel alchemy, for example.”

            **‘This is interesting,’** thought Rose as she took down notes. She looked around her and noticed that none of the other Obelisk Blue students were taking notes **. ‘Of course, he’s the head of the Slifer dorm.’**

            “For sticking up for me!” said Syrus to loudly.

            ‘Syrus!” said Banner, causing Syrus to stand up scared. “Do me a favor and grab Pharaoh, would you?”

            “Pharaoh?” asked Syrus.

            “Unless you are minoring as a scratch post,” said Banner as everyone heard a mew come from Syrus’ legs, making them laugh.

**_~Next Class~_ **

            “Hi everyone! My name is Fonda Fontaine and I’ll be your gym instructor for this semester. You ready to sweat?” asked the gym instructor, who also happened to be the head of the Obelisk Blue Girl Dorms.

            “She seems happy,” said Jaden from his place of standing next to Rose.

            “You have no idea,” responded Rose with a sweat drop.

            “I wonder where Sy is,” though Jaden out load as he looked around.

**_~That Night~_ **

            “Alexis! Rose! Want to chill out in the Obelisk wading pool?” asked a girl.

            “No thanks! We’ll wade, and the boys will sway,” replied Alexis as Rose laughed.

            “I’m not in the mode for a game of tackle Marco Polo,” said Rose.

            “Hello! Girls dorm! No guys allowed, remember?” said another girl.

**_~In the pool~_ **

            “Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler today? He’s got some nerve to talk to a teacher that way. Completely disrespectful. Don’t you think?” asked Jasmine to Alexis and Rose as Mindy nodded.

            “Actually, I think that it was kind of cool,” said Rose with a smile.

            “What! Him? Cool?” shouted Jasmine.

            “He could be. If he had the talent to back up that talk, maybe,” said Mindy, causing Jasmine to laugh.

            “I think he just might, but I won’t know till I duel him myself,” said Alexis causing Rose to laugh and nodded in agreement.

            “A boy!” yelled one of the girls outside causing all the other girls to grab towels and run out.

            “I’m gonna go change,” said Rose as she grabbed her towel. “Get me if you guys need me.”

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

            “So, you want me to send a message to Jaden?” asked Rose to Alexis.

            “Yes. It seems someone gave Syrus a love letter from me and so he came here. I was thinking that we could use Syrus as bait to get Jaden to duel one of us and we can see if he really is as good as he says,” said Alexis with a smirk.

            “Hmm. Okay. Give me your device,” said Rose as Alexis gave her the device.

            “What are you gonna do?” asked Mindy.

            “Just going to send him a message using a voice modifier, that way he won’t know who sent it,” said Rose as she then gave the device to Alexis. “Try it out. If you like the message, then we can send it.”

            “Okay,” said Alexis as she got ready. “We have your roommate Syrus. If you want him back, come to the girl’s dorms now. Alone.”

            “That’s good!” said Jasmine as Alexis then sent it to Jaden.

            “Now we just have to wait,” said Alexis. She then turned to Rose. “Do you want to duel him, or should I?”

            “We can decide when the time comes, but I think you should since it was your plan,” said Rose with a smile.

            “We can decide later,” decided Alexis as the girls left to get ready.

            “Come on Syrus, let’s go!” said Rose as she grabbed the tied-up boy and left to the docks.

            “Rose! Please!” cried Syrus.

            “Sorry man,” replied Rose with a smile.

            **‘You don’t seem sorry,’** thought Syrus with a swat drop.

            “Here he comes,” said Mindy as the girls and Syrus watched Jaden come closer.

            “Hi Jaden,” said Syrus as Jaden got out of his boat.

            “Hey,” replied Jaden. “So, what exactly is going on here?”

            “Well, to make a long story short: I’m basically a big loser,” said Syrus.

            “Your friend here trespassed into the girl’s campus,” said Jasmine.

            “Is that true Sy?” asked Jaden in disappointment and surprise.

            “Hey! It’s not like that!” defended Syrus.

            “And now that you’re here, Jaden, you’re trespassing too!” accused Mindy.

            “That’s right! And if you don’t want us to turn you in, you’re going to have to win your freedom by defeating one of us in a duel, right now!” said Alexis.

            “But if you turn us in, we’ll be expelled!” cried Syrus.

            “Don’t worry Sy, I won’t let that happen! Now, let’s duel Rose!” said Jaden, shocking Syrus.

            “You want to duel me?” asked Rose as she blinked at him.

            “Yeah! I’ve been wanting to for a while, so this is gonna be fun!” said Jaden as he smiled at the purple haired girl.

            “Alright then, let’s go!” said Rose as everyone got into their boats.

**_~Once in the Middle of the Lake~_ **

            “I hope you know what you’re doing Jaden,” said Syrus.

            “Ready!” said Rose with a serious face.

            “Oh yeah!” said Jaden.

            “DUEL!” said the two teens.

            “Get your game on Rose!” said Jaden with a smile.

            “Here we go,” said Syrus in fear.

            “Let’s see!” said Rose as she drew a card. “I play Flower Dancer and place one card face down.”

            Flower Dance was a beautiful female with green skin and an outfit made of different types of flowers. She had flowing green hair that was darker then her skin.

            “Time to throw down!” said Jaden as he looked at the card he drew, “First, yes, I’ll summon the Elemental Hero Sparkman and now I’ll have him attack your Flower Dancer with Static Shock!”

            “Hold it right there!” said Rose as she played her trap card. “I activate the trap card Protective Sacrifice!”

            “Huh?”

            “Protective Sacrifice makes it so you attack me directly instead of my monster. Now, since you were about to attack my monster, it gets to attack you directly.”

            “Great,” said Jaden sarcastically.

            “When Flower Dancer attacks directly, her attack points increase by 600.”

            “Jaden!” cried Syrus.

            “That Rose is something else. Sacrificing her own life points just to get to mine,” said Jaden in wonder.

            “So, you impressed?” asked Rose with a smirk. Jaden just smirked back at her.

            “Impressed? I think I’m in love,” said Jaden as he looked her in the eyes. **‘Definitely’**

            “That’s sweet, love. Too bad I’m going to have to beat you. Let’s see if you’re still in love after this,” said Rose with a slight blush as she drew a card. “I play Thorn Heart. Then I activate the card Polymerization to fuse the two together to summon Thorn Dancer! Now, Thorn Dance, attack Sparkman with Thorn Rage!”

            “Well, so much for him,” said Jaden as his card was destroyed.

            “Way to go Rose!” said Mindy

            “Yeah, you got him now! I knew when this kid beat Dr. Crowler, it was just luck,” said Jasmine.

            “You go girl,” said Alexis.

            “Well, it will be my pleasure to prove you wrong. My draw! I activate the field spell card, Fusion Gate! Now I can summon fusion monster without a Polymerization card. And, I’m gonna summon this one: Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!”

            “Okay. You do realize that they have the same attack points and will just end up destroying each other,” said Rose with a smirk.

            “Not after this, they won’t,” said Jaden as he played a card. “I activate the spell card Kishido Spirit! Now Wingman can take down any monster with the same attack points and not be destroyed. And thanks to his super power, once he destroys your Thorn Dancer, you take damage equal to her attack points.”

            “Damn,” said Rose as she gritted her teeth.

            “Now go Flame Wingman and attack her Thorn Dancer!”

            **‘Cute,’** thought Rose and Wingman attacked her Thorn Dancer, only for there to be no damage.

            “What? She survived my Wingman’s attack,” said Jaden in shock.

            “Simple. My Thorn Dancer’s special ability makes it so that she can’t be destroyed if my opponent only has one monster,” said Rose with a smirk.

            “But, then that would mean that,” trailed of Jaden.

            “That neither of us lose any life points,” finished Rose.

            “Well, I guess you got me,” said Jaden.

            “When I get you, you’ll know it,” said Rose with a smile as she winked at him causing both Jaden and Syrus to slightly blush.

            **‘Cute,’** thought the two boys.

            “I equip my spell, Fusion Weapon, onto my Thorn Dancer!” said Rose as she played her card.

            “Oh oh, I think you might want to brace yourself for this one Sy, old buddie,” said Jaden with a smile.

            “Go Dancer! Attack Flame Wingman with Trident Shock!” called Rose as her monster attacked.

            “Hope you boys haven’t unpacked your bags here yet,” said Alexis with a smirk.

            “Yeah! Because if you lose, you’re both getting expelled,” said Mindy in a sing song voice.

            “We are!” said Syrus in fear.

            “That’s not gonna happen Sy, promise,” said Jaden as he looked back at Syrus.

            **‘You shouldn’t make promises you can’t deliver,’** thought Rose. **‘I really would hate to see him go.’**

 **‘I hope I’m not making a promise I can’t deliver,’** thought Jaden as he looked at Rose. **‘I’ve got someone to impress.’**

            “Here goes!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Perfect!”

            “Huh?” said Rose in shock as Jaden smiled.

            “I play the Elemental Hero: ClayMan. Rise up!” he said a she played the card. “And now I activate Monster Reborn! So, come on back Elemental Hero Speakman.”

            “He can’t beat my monster. She’s stronger than him,” said Rose with a smirk.

            “With my field spell still in effect, I can fuse my monsters together to get someone who will beat your monster,” said Jaden. “Rise! Elemental Hero: Thunder Giant!”

            “Hate to brake it to you, but Thorn Dancer’s attack points are higher,” said Rose with a frown.

            “I know, I know,” said Jaden with a smile “but with Thunder Giants ability, he can destroy any monster whose original attack points are less than his own.”

            “Original attack points?”

            “That’s right. Attack points without any type of enhancement.”

            “But before I played Fusion Weapon, her attack points were 2,100,” said Rose in shock.

            “That’s right! That’s lower than my Hero Thunder Giant, so your Dancer is automatically destroyed!” said Jaden as his monster attacked and destroyed Rose’s monster. “And the coolest part of it Rose, is that I still have the rest of his attack to use on you! Baltic Thunder!”

            “Ugh,” said Rose as she almost fell back.

            “Rose!” said Jasmine.

            “What just happened?” asked Mindy in shock.

            “You okay Rose?” asked Alexis as she helped the girl sit down.

            “Yeah!” yelled Syrus as he hugged Jaden.

            “Alright! Looks like that is game!” said Jaden as he smiled at the girls with a wink.

**_~After Rowing Next to Each Other~_ **

            “Well, a deal is a deal. I won, so we get off free!” said Jaden with a smile.

            “Okay guys, we won’t back out. We’ll keep quiet about what happened tonight,” said Alexis as she stood next to Rose.

            “Well, if you ask me, I think we should turn both of them in, right now!” said Jasmine.

            “Well, no one asked you,” said Rose annoyed.

            “Rose,” said Jasmine in shock.

            “Jaden beat me in a duel, fair and square and that’s all there is to it,” said Rose.

            “No, there is more to it than that, it was close,” said Jaden causing the girls to look at him.

            “Hmm?”

            “Yeah, you got game,” said Jaden as he smiled at Rose. He and Syrus then sat in their boat. “Later!”

            **‘Even if I would have won, there is no way I would have turned them in. Syrus is fun to mess with and Jaden. . . is Jaden,’** thought Rose as she smiled at the boys leaving. Jaden looked up at her and smiled back.

            **‘Rose seems very happy. She must really like being around them, especially him,’** thought Alexis with a smirk. **‘I am so picking on her about this.’**


	5. Making the Grade!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode: 4

                 **‘This test isn’t so hard,’** thought Rose to herself as she filled out the answers.

                “You have 45 minutes left to finish your test,” said Professor Banner.

                **‘I wonder where Jaden is?’** thought Rose as she finished her test.

                “You two want to keep it down! Some of us plan to pass this test,” said Chazz in anger, causing Rose to turn and look in his direction to see him speaking to Jaden.

                **‘He so late,’** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

                “Oh Jaden~” sand Professor Banner, causing Jaden to turn around and run to him to get his test.

**_~Sometime Later~_ **

                “Alright class! The written exam is now over!” announced Professor Banner. “So please walk, not run, to get in line for today’s new rare cards.”

                “There here!” yelled someone.

                “Oh dear,” said the Professor as students then started to run out of the class room.

                “Say, you two may want to give some serious thought to waking up,” said Bastion as he shook Syrus and Jaden while Rose laughed next to him.

                “Ahh, I flunked, didn’t I?” asked Syrus as he stood up and cried, “I’m a complete failure, aren’t I?”

                “If there was a grade foe melodrama, you would get an A!” said Jaden as he woke up, causing Rose to laugh and Bastion to smirk.

                “Where did everybody go?”

                “That’s what I was trying to tell you. The new rare cards arrived today and everyone’s at the card shack,” said Bastion.

                “What! New cards! How come no one told us!?” asked Syrus.

                “Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves. Why would they want to tell possible competition?” asked Rose as she sat up on the desk next to Bastion.

                “That’s right,” said Bastion as he put one hand on the desk next to Rose and lead on it. Rose didn’t seem to mind that he was closer to her, but Jaden looked at them weird. “They want to be able to use them in the upcoming field test.

                “So why aren’t the two of you getting some?” asked Syrus, annoyed.

                “Please, I wouldn’t want to upset the balance of my deck,” said Bastion as he smirked at the other two boys. Rose nodded.

                “Same, besides, you don’t always need powerful cards to win, just a good strategy,” she said with a smile.

                **‘Cute,’** thought Syrus with a blush.

                **‘She is definitely one to look out for,’** thought Bastion as he smirked at her. Jaden narrowed his eyes at him.

                **‘Why don’t I like that?’** Jaden asked himself.

                “Mine wouldn’t!” yelled Syrus as he looked at Jaden, getting back on topic.

                “Then let’s go! Nothing like the smell of new cards in the morning!” said Jaden as he and Syrus ran. “Thanks for the tip!”

                “Well, they are certainly energetic, aren’t they?” said Bastion as he moved from his position and put his hand out for Rose to take. She grabbed his hand and jumped down from the desk. Once down she began to straighten out her skirt.

                “Yeah, now if only they were like that for everything else,” she said with a laugh, causing Bastion to smirk in return.

                “Shall we go?” asked Bastion.

                “Yeah,” said Rose as the two walked off to start getting ready for the field test.

**_~Beginning of the Field Test~_ **

                “Wonderfully done, Rose,” said Bastion as Rose finished her battle.

                “Thanks Bastion! You did good in yours too!” said Rose with a smile.

                “I hope I do good too,” said Syrus as he walked up to her with Jaden behind him.

                “I’m sure you will,” said Rose as she smiled sweetly at Syrus, causing said boy to blush.

                “I must say, that combination was terrific. I hope to be able to duel you soon,” said Bastion to Rose.

                Jaden watched the two threw narrowed eyes as he tried to understand why he thought it was weird. He shrugged it off and jumped in between the two to hug Rose.

                “You did awesome!” he yelled as he hugged her.

                “Woo!” said Rose, not expecting the sudden weight. “Thanks Jaden.”

                “Jaden, it’s your turn!” said Syrus as he pointed to the screen. Jaden laughed and ran off.

                “Is that Chazz?” asked Rose as she saw Professor Crawler talk about how he was trying to give Jaden the challenge he deserved.

                **‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’** thought Syrus.

                **‘This is clearly a trap,’** thought Bastion **. ‘Only a cavalier fool would agree to it.’**

                “I’ll do it!” said Jaden, shocking everyone. “Alright, Chazz! Get your game on! Let’s finish what we started at Obelisk arena!”

                “Indeed. In front of the whole school, too,” said Crowler, “where everyone can watch!”

                “Yeah. Watch you get slammed by me!” said Chazz.

                “DUEL!” yelled the two boys.

                “No excuses this time, Chazz!” yelled Jaden.

                “Bring it Slifer slacker!” yelled Chazz.

                “Oh, it is brought!”

                “Why am I not surprised?” said Rose with a sweat drop.

                “He’s a special one, that’s for sure,” agreed Bastion.

“You remember this guy, don’t you, Chazz, from our first match?!” said Jaden as he played a card. “Elemental Hero Clayman! He’d like to get reacquainted.”

“Not after he sees what I got for him!” laughed Chazz.

“Don’t think for a second that that oversize pile of pebbles has a chance against me or against this!” yelled Chazz as he drew a card. “Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Mallet!”

“What’s that?” asked Jaden.

“A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don’t want, I put back in my deck. Then I shuffle and redraw. Pretty cool, don’t you think?”

“Wait, are those rare cards?” asked Rose as they watched the duel.

                “I wonder who gave them to him,” asked Bastion as he put a hand on his chin.

                “Probably Crwaler,” replied Rose.

                “Probably,” replied Bastion and Syrus as Chazz played the card again until he got the card he wanted.

                “V Tiger Jet! Sharpen your claws for attack mode!” said Chazz. “And there’s a lot more where that came from! Check out the magic of Frontline Base! It lets me summon another Level-4 or below monster this turn, and I have just the one. I play W-Wing Catapult in attack mode! Gentlemen, start your engines!

                “Now merge! Alright! The VW-Tiger Catapult! But wait. I’m not done yet ‘cause he still has his special ability!”

                “That’s not good!” said Jaden.

                “Gimme a break!” yelled Syrus. “Is this guy’s turn going to end sometime this century?!”

                “By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into attack mode!” said Chazz as Clayman stood up. “So now after this Heastseeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!”

                As Jaden’s monster was destroyed, his life points went down to 2,800.

                “I’ll finish up with one card face down.”

                “Yeah, go ahead and finish up. Cuz I’m just getting’ warmed up! And speakin’ of, here’s a guy who can really turn up the heat!” said Jaden as he played a card. “Elemental Hero Sparkman in defense mode! And I’ll throw down a face down!”

                “Not much else he can do with all the new rares Chazz seems to have!” said Bastion.

                “It’s just not fair,” said Syrus.

                **‘Rose Guardian, can you check Crawler,’** thought Rose to herself as her Rose Guardian appeared above her. Said card went to the box that Professor Crawler was in and listen into his conversation with Chancellor Sheppard. She then went back to Rose and nodded. Rose nodded in return and Rose Guardian disappeared.

                **‘So, he is behind this, idiot,’** thought Rose as she watched Jaden play his winged Kuriboh.

                “How cute!” said a lot of the girls.

                “I want one,” mumbled Rose, causing Bastion and Syrus to sweat drop at her.

                “I’m sure we can find you a plushy or something,” said Bastion. Rose looked at him with stars in her eyes.

                “You think!”

                **‘Who knew she loved cute things so much,’** thought Bastion as he smiled at her with a sweat drop. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

                “YAY!” cheered Rose as she hugged Bastion.

                **‘Why is she hugging him?’** thought both Chazz and Jaden as they watched Rose hug Bastion.

                **‘Why do I feel like my life is endanger,’** thought Bastion with a sweat drop.

                “I think you can let him go now Rose,” laughed Syrus.

                “Right. Sorry!” giggled Rose.

                “It’s okay,” smiled Bastion.

                **‘Why is he smiling at her?’** thought Chazz and Jaden.

                “And I’ll throw down a face down too. That’s it,” said Jaden as he focused back on the duel.

                “That’s it?” asked Syrus in shock. “That’s all? But all he’s been playing is defense!”

                **‘You better know what your doing, Jaden,’** thought Rose.

                “All done, huh?” asked Chazz as he drew a card. “Good, cuz now I can cook that Kuriboh, and I like mine well done! There’s about to be a fired furball on the field, ya loser!”

                “You don’t scar me,” said Jaden.

                “No big deal. I don’t have to. That’s his job! Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack!”

                “Once that Kuriboh is gone, Jaden will be completely defenseless!” yelled Syrus.

                “Alright! Secret weapon time!” yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. “I sacrifice two cards and activate Transcendent Wings!”

                “Aah! It can’t be!” yelled Chazz as his attack was deflected.

                “Oh, it be,” said Jaden. “Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level-10 monster! And it gets better, too! By sacrificing himself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in attack mode and deflects their attack points back as damage to you! Kuriboh, why dontcha go ahead and show him how it works?!”

                Jaden managed to bring Chazz’s life points down to 1,000.

                “Lucky punk,” said Chazz in anger.

                “Lucky?!” asked Jaden. “Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies, but not foe you, Chazz, and that’s too bad cuz with a 1,000 life points apiece and my turn comin’ up, all I need is the right monster, and you’ll be finished!

                “Here goes something!” yelled Jaden as he drew a card. “Yeah, Elemental Hero Avian! Attack!”

                Everyone gasped as Chazz’s life points went to zero. They then started cheering for Jaden.

                “He did it!” yelled Syrus in happiness.

                “You really shouldn’t underestimate that one,” said Rose to Bastion.

                “You’d be a fool if you did,” he replied.

                “Let’s go,” she said to the two boys who followed her down to Jaden.

                “Hey! Jaden!” yelled Syrus as he ran to his friend. Bastion and Rose fallowing behind.

                “That was well played, Jaden,” said Chancellor Sheppard through the speakers. “Not in the history of out revered academy has a Slifer ever duel an Obelisk in these exams. Jaden, not only did you hold your own, but you won! Your courage against overwhelming odds is inspiring. It is with great pride that I promote you to Ra Yellow. Good job!”

                “Yeah!” cheered that stadium.

                “Ra Yellow!” said Syrus in surprised as he then hugged Jaden. “You’re the best, Jaden.”

                “I do what I can!” said Jaden with a big grin.

                “Good show, Jaden,” said Bastion as he put his hand out for Jaden to shake. “Let me be the first to welcome you to the Ra dorm.”

                “Thanks!” said Jaden as he shook Bastion’s hand.

                “Good job, Jaden,” said Rose as she walked up to him.

                “Thanks! I-“ started Jaden, only to be cut off by Rose kissing his cheek.

                “I’m proud of you,” she said with a smile. Jaden’s face started to turn a little red.

                **‘No!’** thought Chazz as he went into a depressed state.

                **‘We’ll there’s that,’** thought Bastion as he watched Syrus talk about how lucky Jaden was to get a kiss from a girl while Rose just laughed at the two.


	6. The Shadow Duelist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 5 – 6

            “Alexis, where are you going?” asked Rose as she noticed Alexis walking out of her room. Rose was going to her room after talking to some of the girls about an assignment for one of their classes.

            “It’d nothing,” said Alexis as she looked away.

            “Alexis?” asked Rose as she walked up to her.

            “It’s just,” started Alexis as she told Rose about her brother missing and how she was going to the abandon building.

            “I’ll go with you,” said Rose, shocking Alexis.

            “You don’t have to!” said Alexis.

            “No, but I know you need someone, and I don’t mind being that someone,” said Rose with a smile. Alexis smiled back at her and the two left.

            The two girls walked to the abandon dorm, when they heard voices. The two girls walked toward the noise when Alexis stepped on a branch.

            “Ahhh! SO, WHAT’S THAT!” screamed Chumley and Syrus. Jaden shined his light in the direction of the noise, only to see Alexis and Rose.

            “Hi Rose, Alexis,” said Jaden with a normal voice while Chumley jumped on his back and Syrus held onto his arm.

            “Rose! Alexis! What are you two doing here?” asked Syrus.

            “Funny, we should be asking you the same thing,” said Alexis as the two girls walked to the boys.

            “We heard about abounded dorm and wanted to check it out,” said Jaden.

            “Well that’s not very intelligent,” said Rose as she stared at the boys. “Kids have been disappearing around here.”

            “Oh, come on! That’s just some urban myth,” said Jaden with a smile.

            “No, it’s not. Believe me, I know,” said Alexis. “Why else would they make this building completely forbidden?”

            “If they catch you here, they will expel you,” said Rose as she stood next to Jaden.

            “Yeah, so why are the two of you here?” asked Jaden as he smirked at the girls.

            “I have my reason, that’s why!” yelled Alexis, scarring Jaden and Rose. Since Rose was next to her and not expecting it, she jumped into Jaden who grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him.

            **‘She didn’t have to scream,’** thought Rose as she looked at her friend.

            “Wow, Alexis. No need to snap,” said Jaden as he let go of Rose, “We just came here to look around, but we will stay out of your way, don’t worry about it.”

            “It’s just that,” started Alexis as she looked away. She then started to walk away as the others looked at her.

            “It’s just that, what?” asked Syrus.

            “One of the kids who disappeared here, was my brother.”

            **‘Oh, that explains the rose,’** though Jaden as he looked at the rose in front of the gates. **‘But why is Rose here?’**

            “If Alexis’ brother really disappeared, then the rumors aren’t really rumors,” said Syrus. “I say we go back, Jaden.”

            “Yeah, well, I say we go in!” said Jaden as he and Chumley started to walk in.

            “WHAT!?”

            “See you in a few, Syrus!” said Jaden with a laugh. “Don’t disappear on us.”

            “Disappear!” Syrus freaked out as he ran after the other two. “Wait up!”

            “We should go back now Alexis,” said Rose as she and Alexis watched the boys leave.

            “Yeah,” she said as the two turned around only to have someone appear in front of them. The two girls looked up and the man smirked at them. The two screamed and then all went silent.

**_~Sometime Later~_ **

            “Mmmmhh,” moaned Rose as she started to wake up.

            “Rose?” asked Alexis from nearby, “where are we?”

            “On a hook, dangling, baiting your friends into my trap,” said a male voice.

            “Jaden,” whispered Rose in shock.

            A bright light then went off, causing the two girls to scream before they knocked out.

**_~Sometime Later~_ **

            “Rose! Alexis!” yelled Jaden as the boys got to where they heard the screams come from. They saw both girls inside of coffins.

            “They can’t hear you. They’re far away locked in the shadow realm,” said a male voice.

            “Who’s there?” asked Jaden as the fog picked up. They watched as a man came out of the fog.

            “Your worst nightmare come true,” said the man.

            “Oh, give me a break,” said Jaden with annoyance.

            “Then let me prove it to you, in a shadow game.”

            “We need to get the girls back,” said Syrus in concern.

            “Yeah, hand them over right now or you’ll be sorry!” said Jaden in anger.

            “The only way I will free them is if you beat me in a shadow game,” said the man.

            “He’s not looking at me, is he?” asked Chumley.

            “Look, I’m not afraid of dueling you, but shadow games don’t exist,” said Jaden.

            “The others didn’t believe in the shadow game either, but they were soon convinced, for you see, when you lose in a shadow game, you don’t just pay with your life points, you pay with your soul,” said the man.

            “So, you’re the one behind all those disappearances,” said Jaden. “Well, you’re not getting us, especially the girls!”

            “Unless you win, they’re mine forever, and so shall you be,” said the man with a smirk.

            “Like I’m going to let some perv get what he wants,” said Jaden in anger as he turned to Chumley to get a duel disk. “Get your game on.”

            “Shadow game, that is!”

            “Just hang on girls, I’ll get you two out.”

            “DUEL!” said the two males.

**_~After Jaden Discovers the Truth~_ **

            **‘We’re not playing in the shadows, he’s playing with my mind!’** thought Jaden as he stood up. “Well no more! I’ve got this shadow game scam figured out.”

            “Did he just say, ‘shadow game scam’?” asked Chumley.

            “What’s he mean?” asked Syrus.

            “I mean,” started Jaden. “My soul isn’t on the serving plate anymore!”

            “Huh?” said the two other guys.

            “Let’s keep going! My turn!” said Jaden as he drew a card.

            **‘What’s happening? Why isn’t he scared anymore?’** thought Titan.

            Jaden used his attack to stop the allusion on the field.

            “So, what? You still haven’t stopped this!” said Titan as he showed the boys his Millennium Puzzle.

            “You should be carful what you wish for, you just might get it!” said Jaden as he threw one of his cards and destroyed the item. This caused his body to reappear.

            “Alright Jaden! You got your body back!” said Syrus in happiness.

            “I never lost it,” said Jaden as he turned his head to smile at his friend. “This whole shadow game was just a big fake.”

            “Huh?” said his friends.

            “It was all just hypnosis. A whole lot of smoke and mirrors to make me think that I was losing my soul. This guy is a complete sham,” said Jaden as he pointed at Titan. “I mean he’s probably some out of work carnie!”

            “I’m not out of work,” said Titan. “I can get my job at the fair back anytime I want!”

            “Yeah, and I’m sure that you could. And I’m sure that, that paper millennium item goes over well with the kiddies.”

            “No! Be quite! Its real! I’m real!”

            “You’re a sideshow phony!”

            “You fool! You forget!” said Titan in anger as he then smirked. “The girls.”

            “Rose and Alexis,” said Chumley in concern.

            “That’s right!” he laughed. “Imprisoned in the shadow tomb. Their souls are festering in the dark creases in the nether world! That proves that this millennium pendent is real! What do you have to say to that!?”

            “Besides that you’re a big dunce?” asked Jaden with a laugh.

            “Huh?” said Titan in shock.

            “You see, all of the millennium items were sketched on the inside of this dorm,” said Jaden with a smirk. “And yours would be called the millennium puzzle, not pendent. You don’t have the girl’s soul, you never did! So, hand them over and hand over all the other kids you snatched your pedophile!”

            “Other kids? Pedophile!? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Titan in annoyance. “And because of your earlier carnie comment, you can find your friends by yourself!”

            Titan threw down a smoke bomb, covering himself to make his escape.

            “No way in hell! You are not getting away that easily!” yelled Jaden as he ran after the man, not noticing that the statues he ran by began to light up until all their lights hit the middle forming the all-seeing eye.

            “Wow!” said Jaden in shock and awe. “How did you do this trick?”

            “I didn’t” said Titan in shock.

            “What the fuck!?” said Jaden in shock as the wind picked up around them. It then condensed and sealed them inside of a shadow ball.

**_~After the Real Shadow Duel~_ **

            “Jaden!” yelled Syrus.

            “You okay?” asked Chumley as the two ran to their friend.

            “Never better guys!” said Jaden with a smile and a wave.

            “What happened in there?”

            “Ahh!” they all scream as the shadow ball started to get smaller and electricity shot out of it. They all fell to the ground to try and get away.

            As the ball got smaller, it started to suck in more air, causing the coffin hold Rose to slowly slide down.

            **‘Shit!’** thought Jaden as he jumped on it to stop it from moving.

            “What a cool trick!” said Jaden as he clapped. “What do you guys think he does for encores?”

            “You don’t think that was the real deal?” asked Syrus in shock.

            “Nah. It was all just mirrors and smoke machines, just like I said. Though, I’d give my entire deck to know how he did it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

            “They’re still asleep?” asked Chumley in surprise as he looked at the two girls.

            “Lets take them out side,” said Jaden as he picked up Rose in his arms, carrying her bridle style.

            “Right,” said Chumley as he picked up Alexis.

            **‘I feel like a prince saving his princess,’** thought Jaden with a light blush as they started to make their way to leave the dorms.

**_~After Walking Some Distance From the Dorms~_ **

            “Huh?” said Rose as she opened her eyes.

            “Well, good morning sleeping beauty,” said Jaden with a smile.

            “Where are we?” said Alexis as she woke up and looked around and saw the three boys. “What are you doing here?”

            “Hold on, what kind of a thank you is that?” asked Jaden with a laugh and gave the girls a closed eye smile. “We’re here because we had to find the bad guys, win the duel, and rescue the damsels in distress.”

            “Yeah! That strange man snatched us!” said Rose as she looked at the boys.

            “That’s right!” said Jaden as he reached into his pockets to take somethings out. He handed a card to Rose and a frame to Alexis “We found Rose’s card and this.”

            “My brother!” said Alexis in shock as she looked at the picture. “This is the first trace of him I’ve seen in a long time.”

            “That’s right,” said Jaden as he moved closer to Rose as she was sitting between him and Alexis. “I brought it to let you know that we want to help you look for him. After all, we can’t have you girls getting locked up in anymore tombs, searching for him with just the two of you.”

            “You really were worried about us, weren’t you?” asked Rose as she smiled at Jaden, causing him to smile more.

            “Uh oh, Suns up,” said Jaden as he and the boys stood up. “We better get back before they notice that we were gone.”

            “By girls!” said Syrus.

            “See you later,” said Chumley. The three then started to run away.

            “Oh, and if anyone ask, we were never here!” said Jaden as he continued running.

**_~Later after Class~_ **

            “Jaden!” called Rose as everyone cleared out for the end of the day.

            “Hey Rose,” said Jaden after he nodded at Chumley and Syrus to go on without him. He smiled at the purple haired girl.

            “I never got to thank you for saving me,” she said with a smile as the two stood near one of the status.

            “No problem! I will always be there to fight for my friends!” said Jaden as he smiled with his eyes closed.

            “Well, I still need to thank you.”

            “You don’t have to-“ started Jaden, but he was cut off by the feeling of something soft on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Rose leaning in and kissing his cheek.

            “Thanks Jaden,” said Rose with a light blush as she turned and ran back toward the Obelisk Blue dorms.

            “She kissed me,” mumbled Jaden as his face turned red and he started to smile widely. “Best day ever!”


	7. Building Syrus' Confidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 7 - 8

            “Rose! Rose!” yelled a voice.

            “Hm?” said Rose as she turned to see who was calling for her. It turned out to be Alexis with a worried faced. “What’s wrong?”

            “Jaden and Syrus are in trouble for going to the abandon dorms,” said Alexis once she caught up to the purple haired girl.

            “What!?” she asked in shock.

            “Apparently, they have to do a tag-team duel now, and if they lost they get expelled!” said Alexis in concern.

            “Shit! We need to tell the Chancellor that we were there too!”

            “Right!” said Alexis as the two girls ran toward the Chancellor’s office.

            As the girls reached the office, they heard Chumley’s voice as he talked to Chancellor Sheppard about being the one to duel with Jaden.

            “No,” said Alexis as the two girls walked in, “it should be one of us.”

            Both males were shocked by the girl’s sudden appearance.

            “Listen, they were at the dorm help us,” said Rose as she looked at Sheppard.

            “That’s bogus!” said Chumley. “Girls, it was so totally our fault! I lead them to the abandoned dorm because I wanted to check out the abandoned cafeteria.”

            “Fat chance Chumley,” said Alexis in annoyance. “Please Chancellor, let me be his partner.”

            “Look,” said Sheppard with a smile, “I realize the stakes are high, but the team up has been set: Syrus is Jaden’s partner. And I’m sure that he’ll do fine.”

            The three just looked at each other with concern.

**_~Sometime Later~_ **

            “I’m not sure Jaden knows how to go easy,” said Chumley as he watched Jaden and Syrus get ready to duel.

            “That’s probably a good thing,” said Rose as she and Alexis came up from behind him.

            “What do you mean?” asked Chumley as he looked at the two girls.

            “She means that I know Doctor Crowler and I know he isn’t going to pair the two up with some amateur,” said Alexis. “They’ll both need to be at their very best, because if they’re not. . .”

            “They’ll both be expelled,” finished Rose as the three watched them.

**_~During the Duel~_ **

            “So, does anyone actually question why the crazy, questionable gender, teacher has it out for Jaden?” asked Rose as the three watched the duel.

            “My guess is it has to do with the fact the Jaden beat him during his entrance exam,” replied Alexis.

            “Questionable gender?” asked Chumley with a laugh.

            “Like you weren’t thinking it,” said Rose with a smirk.

            “I thought he was a women at first,” said Alexis with a laugh.

            “See! I’m not the only one,” said Rose as she laughed.

            “What’s so funny?” asked Jaden as he and Syrus looked up at the two.

            “Don’t worry! We’ll tell you later!”

            “You better!”

            “Anyway guys, I need to go study, so I’ll see you all later!” said Rose as she started to walk away.

            “Later Rose!” said Jaden as he saw her leaving.

            **‘How did he notice her leaving?’** thought the others.

            “By Jaden!” yelled Rose back with a smile. **‘Now to go fix my deck, I haven’t done that in a while and I really need to start doing it more often.’**

**_~The Next Day~_ **

            “Well today has been interesting,” said Rose as she was walking to the dorms.

            “Rose,” said a male voice.

            “Huh?” said Rose as she turned to see who was calling her. “Hi, um?”

            “Zane,” said the male with a raised eyebrow.

            “Ah, yes. Alexis told me about you,” said Rose as she rubbed her head. “I’m not good at remembering names if I’ve never met the person.”

            “That’s fine,” said Zane as he walked toward Rose. He stopped when he was right in front of her, forcing her to look up at him.

            “Is something wrong?” she asked as she tilted her head.

            “Come with me,” said Zane as he turned around and started walking.

            “You know, this is how horror movies sometimes start,” said Rose with a sing song voice as she followed him.

            “And yet you follow me?” he asked as he turned his head to look at her.

            “I’m curious as to why someone I’ve never really talked to wants to talk to me all of a sudden.”  
            “It’s about Alexis’ brother.”

            “Oh?”

            “I feel that if you are there when I talk to Alexis, she will feel free to express herself.”

            “You really care for her.”

            “Her brother is my best friend,” started Zane as they stopped at the pier. “I feel like it’s my duty to watch out for her with her brother being gone.”

            “That’s nice,” said Rose with a smile as looked at the sunset.

            The two stood in silence until they heard some footsteps heading toward them.

            “So, any new leads?” asked Zane as Alexis walked up to the two.

            “I can’t believe he’s still gone. I keep looking for some sign, but its like my brother vanished into thin air,” replied Alexis as Rose went to hold her hand. The two girls smiled at each other.

            “Don’t give up, you’ll find him.”

            “I hope so,” said Alexis as she looked at Zane. “Speaking of brothers, Zane, I saw yours the other day.”

            “Oh, did you now?” asked Zane in an annoyed voice.

            “Yeah. He lost in a practice duel to Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too and not in a good way. And Rose, why did you leave early?”

            “Had to fix my deck,” Rose replied as she looked at Zane **. ‘So Syrus is his brother?’**

            “The big bad brother. What, does Jaden want to scold me now?” asked Zane.

            “Knowing Jaden, he probably wants to duel you,” said Rose with a smile.

            “Stay back Jaden!” said a voice.

            The three Obelisk Blue students turned to look at were the voice was coming from. They were shocked to see Syrus and what looked like a make-shift raft.

            “What is Syrus doing?” asked Alexis in concern.

            “Never mind Syrus, what about Jaden!” said Rose in shock as Jaden jumped onto the raft, knocking it over.

            “Don’t worry, they’re in shallow waters,” said Zane as the three watched. “Let’s go.”

            “Right!” replied the two girls as they fallowed him to where the three boys were.

            “Be careful,” said Alexis as the three walked down the cliff.

            “Don’t worry,” said Rose with a smile. 

She and Alexis were still a little ways up as Zane managed to move faster than them. Alexis managed to get down to where Zane was and was going to tell Rose to watch her step when she heard a gasp. She looked up to see Rose slip off the side. Zane, ever the quick thinker, managed to turn and catch her in his arms. Before Rose could say thank you, Zane turned around to say something to the boys, bring the boys attention to the three new commers.

“He is right, you know,” said Zane with no emotion as the three looked up at him and the girls.

“Zane!” said Syrus in shock.

“So that’s the schools top duelist?” asked Jaden out loud as he glared at Zane. He clenched his fist. **‘Why the hell is he holding Rose like that? Are they dating or something?’**

“You dropping out?” asked Zane as he put Rose down. He glanced at the purpled hair girl to make sure she was okay, only to receive a sweet smile in thanks from said girl. This annoyed Jaden more.

“Well, yeah, kind of,” replied Syrus.

“Well, it’s about time.”

“You’re his big brother! How can you say that!?” yelled Jaden.

“Because I know him,” Zane replied, causing the two girls to look at him in shock.

“Yeah, and I guess you think you know it all, but guess what, you don’t! And I’m going to prove it, right now! Let’s duel!”

“No, Jaden!” yelled Syrus.

“Duel a Slifer?” Zane asked as he then smirked. “Sure, why not? After all, it’s been a while since I went slumming.”

“Why do I have a feeling that this is not going to end well,” said Rose to Alexis.

“Because it won’t,” replied Alexis as the two girls looked at each other in worry.

The group of six walked up to the deck so that Zane and Jaden could duel.

            “Why do you think Jaden is dueling Zane?” asked Alexis to Rose.

            “It probably has to due with Syrus’ confidence,” said Rose in response.

            “Yeah, but maybe, for Zane, it’s more then just a duel,” said Alexis with a smile.

            “Oh?” asked Rose with a similar smile as she looked at Zane. **‘Could he be doing this in a way to help Syrus too?’**

 **‘Is she smiling at him?’** though Jaden with a glare, causing Zane to raise an eyebrow.

            “Duel,” said the two boys.

            “Here I come Zane,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “First, I’m gonna summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode! And I think I’ll go ahead and throw down a facedown while I’m at it.”

            “That’s all huh?” asked Zane as he drew a card. “Ok, for my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode.”

            “What!?” yelled Jaden in shock. “How can you bring a Level 5 monster out on your very first turn?”

            “I can play my Cyber Dragon because it’s my first turn, Jaden. With no monsters out, he requires no sacrifice. And now I’ll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card.”  
            “That was fast,” responded Jaden as he card was destroyed.

            “Not as fast as your life point meter will go down. Cyber Dragon, attack! Strident Blast!” said Zane as Jaden’s life points went down to 2,900. “Next, I activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule. It allows me to pick any card from my deck. Then I simply place it in the capsule, and in two turns I get to take it out and put it right into my hand.”

            “Man, that’s gotta be the best card out a’ his entire deck,” said Jaden in awe. “I can’t wait to see what’s gonna come out of there.”

            “It’s your move, Jaden.”

            “Alright, round two,” said Jaden as he drew a card, “and first I’ll rock Polymerization. And next I’ll roll out Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman and fuse them to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant. And since his special ability destroys monsters with less attack points than him, your Cyber Dragon gets vaporized!

            “Yes!” said Jaden as the monster was destroyed. “Looks like Thunder Giant just made the big man on campus get a little bit smaller, wouldn’t you say?”

            “We really need to talk to him about being over confident,” said Rose with a sweat drop.

            “Yeah,” agreed Alexis and Chumley.

            “And the best part is that since that blast was just Thunder Giant’s special ability, I still get to use his attack!” said Jaden. “And since you’re now defenseless, I’m gonna use it directly on you!”

            “Wow,” said Syrus as his brother’s life points went down to 1,600.

            “Cool,” said Rose as she noticed that Zane didn’t even flinch. She smiled at him, impressed.

            “Ya could at least kind of flinch,” said Jaden annoyed. “Oh, well, maybe this facedown card will get ya to later.”

            “Nice moves, kid,” said Zane as he drew a card. “Of course, with my field now empty again, I can just throw out another Cyber Dragon. Or better yet, two. And with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who’s coming back. But neither will be here long, in present form.

            “Dragons, unite. Now, Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge.”

            “Twin Dragon?” asked Chumley in shock. “One was tough enough.”

            “Now, my dragon can attack twice in a round, which means double trouble for your monster and your life points! Twin Dragon, attack!”

            “Not so fast,” said Jaden, “I’ve gotta trap card out: A Hero Emerges! Now normally, you’d have to randomly pick one a’ the cards in my hand, and if it was a monster, I’d get to summon it. But since I only have one card in my hand, let’s just get tight to it, shall we? Wroughtweiler, defense mode.”

            “You’ll need him,” said Zane as his dragon continued with his attack. “Cyber Twin Dragon, Double Strident Blast!”

            “Jay,” said Syrus as his life points went down to 2,600.

            “Glad you did that, ‘cuz when Wroughtweiler’s destroyed, his special ability activates. It brings one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization card back from the graveyard and into my hand. And just when you thought you could probably stop worryin’ about ‘em, huh, Zane?”

            “I don’t worry,” said Zane, unaffected.

            “Man, you’re chill,” laughed Jaden. Not worryin’, not even flinchin’. You are good.”

            “You too, Jaden,” said Zane with a smirk. Syrus looked shock. Rose smiled when she noticed the look on Syrus’ face.

            “Now, where was I?” asked Jaden. “Oh, yeah. I was about to summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode. And since Bubbleman’s the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more card to my hand.

            “Alright, Zane, I play Polymerization and fuse my Elemental Hero Bubbleman with Elemental Hero Clayman. Now, Elemental Hero Mudballman, rise in defense mode.”

            “’Lishus,” said Chumley. “Mudballman’s got 3,000 defense points. That Twin Dragon’s attack won’t get through to Jaden.”

            “Now gimme your best shot, Zane,” said Jaden in a determined voice.

            “My best shot?” asked Zane a she drew a card. “You got it. It’s been two turns since I first activated Different Dimension Capsule, and now I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand. You played well, but not well enough.”

            “Hey, gimme what you got. I’m ready,” smiled Jaden.

            “I’m sure you are. A good duelist is ready for anything, and that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but knowing how to play them, too, and you play your cards well, Jaden,” said Zane with a smile.

            **‘You better be listening to him, Syrus,** ’ thought Rose with a found smile.

            “First I’ll activate the De-Fusion card. It splits my monster back into two separate Cyber Dragons. Next, I’ll activate the magic of Power Bond. With this spell card, I’m allowed to summon a Machine-Type fusion monster. And with another Cyber Dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together and create The Cyber End Dragon.”

            “That’s a cool card,” said Rose as Alexis nodded in agreement.

            “Plus, its attack points are doubled because of power bond’s effect.”

            “8,000?” said Chumley in shock.

            “And keep in mind, when Cyber End Dragon attacks, the difference between his attack points and your monster defense points are dealt to you as damage.”

            “Just hang tough!” said Chumley to Jaden. “If you can survive his attack, you can win for sure, ‘cause of power bond’s nasty side effect.”

            “Chumley’s right,” said Alexis.

            “At the end of the turn Power Bond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to their attacking monster’s original attack points,” said Rose.

            “Cyber End Dragon attack Mudballman,” said Zane. “Super Strident Blaze!”

            “Jaden! No!” yelled Chumley.

            “I can’t believe it,” said Alexis. “He lost.”

            “NO!!!” yelled Syrus as he runs to Jaden.

            **‘He makes it seem like he’s dying or something,’** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

            “Thanks for a great duel, Zane,” said Jaden as he smiled at Zane.

Zane smiled in return. He then turned and started to walk away. Alexis and Rose looked at each other and run after him.

“Bye Jaden! Good job!’ yelled Rose as she ran.

“Bye Rose!” yelled Jaden.

“So,” started Alexis once Rose caught up to the two and walked on Zane’s left side while Alexis was on his right, “what do you think?”

“I think Syrus chose great friends,” he replied causing the two girls to smile at each other.


	8. Jaden and Syrus! Tag Duel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 10 – 11

            “Let’s sit with Bastion,” said Rose to Alexis as the two girls walked around in the arena.

            “The tag duel will begin in just a few moments,” said the announcer, “and remember: these are test conditions! This is a sudden-expulsion match!”

            “A tad harsh, I’d say,” said Bastion in response.

            “That’s definitely true,” said Rose as she and Alexis came to a stop next to wear Bastion was sitting.

            “Huh?” said Bastion in confusion.

            “You’re Bastion Misawa, a friend of Jaden’s, right?” asked Alexis as the two sat next to him. Rose sat next to Bastion on his left while Alexis sat next to her.

            “I suppose you can say that,” said Bastion as he looked at the two girls, “and your Alexis Rhodes, correct? And I already know Rose Heartfilia.”

            “Yeah,” replied Alexis, “I’m also why they’re in this mess.”

            “They were helping us at the abandoned dorm,” said Rose as she looked at Bastion.

            “I see,” said Bastion as he turned to look forward.

            “But now if there is anyone in need of help, it’s them,” said Alexis as the girls looked forward too.

            “Did you hear that Crowler arranged for them to go against professional duelist? Tag team legends,” said Rose in annoyance. **‘Idiot of a teacher needs to learn not to go after his damn students.’**

            “Send in the accused!” said the announcer. Syrus and Jaden then walked into the arena. “Syrus Truesdale and Jaden Yuki!”

            “I hope they’re going to be okay,” said Alexis.

            “Knowing Jaden, I have a feeling everything will work itself out,” said Rose.

            “You have a lot of fate in someone who is in the Slifer dorm,” replied Bastion. Rose only shook her head.

            “He’s only in that dorm because Crowler doesn’t like him.”

            “That’s true,” said Alexis with a laugh.

            “Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest tag team duo!” said Crowler to the crowed. “The Paradox brothers!”

            Everyone gasped as the brothers flipped around the stage.

            “I’ve studied these guys,” said Alexis. “They’re some kind of dueling mercenaries, not to mention the best tag duelist in the world!”

            “Asshole of a teacher,” said Rose in anger.

            “Statistically speaking, I put Jaden’s odds at winning this to be one in 50,” said Bastion as he glared at Crowler. “I have to agree with you Rose.”

            “Duelist! Prepare to battle!” said Crowler as the two teams got ready.

            “Let’s see how this plays out,” said Rose.

            “Yeah,” said the other two.

            “The rules for this tag team duel are really quite simple. There is no sharing of strategy,” started Crowler as he looked at Jaden and Syrus with a smirk. “No sharing of advice and no sharing of any card that is not yet in play. But you may use what’s on your partners field. Understood?”

            “Yeah,” said the four males.

            “Then duel!” yelled Crowler as he jumped off the stage.

            “You got this boys,” whispered Rose as the duel started.

            “DUEL!” yelled the four.

            After just a few minutes of watching the duel, the others were impressed.

            “He sacrificed his brother’s monster to summon a better one for the team,” said Bastion, impressed. “Now that’s tag dueling.”

            “Would you mind trying not to sound quite so impressed with them?” asked Alexis in annoyance.

            “Let’s hope the boys have something planned,” said Rose. **‘They better have something planned.’**

            After hearing the brothers talk and duel, Rose began to get annoyed.

            “Okay, one, how long do you think it took them to perfect that and two, when will they stop, it’s getting annoying,” said Rose in anger.

            “Now, now Rose, calm down,” said Bastion as he chuckled at her.

            “But it’s so weird!” said Rose as she pouted.

            As the brothers played even stronger monsters, Bastion just had to make a comment.

            “Now I place those odds at 500 to 1”

            “What are the odds of you shutting up?” asked Rose with annoyance.

            “Uhh,” said Bastion in shock. “Sorry.”

            “Gate guardian?” said Alexis in shock.

            “That’s supposed to be their most powerful monster!” said Rose in shock as they then attacked Syrus.

            “This isn’t a duel. It’s target practice for the Paradox brothers, and Sy’s the bullseye,” said Bastion in concern.

            “He’s just made a few bad moves, that’s all. He’ll turn things around,” said Alexis. “At least I hope he does.”

            “Jaden’s good, but he isn’t good enough to do this by himself, at least not yet,” said Rose, shocking the other two.

            “You think he will be able to beat them by himself one day?” asked Bastion as he and Alexis turned to look at her.

            “I don’t see why not. I mean, I know he may not come out as the smartest person in the world, but when it comes to dueling, he’s definitely one of the best.”

            “I can see what you mean,” said Bastion after thinking it through.

            “Anyway,” started Rose with a sweat drop, “does anyone else find it kind of creepy that Crowler is watching this duel like he’s about to jump someone?”

            “He does look like he’s having a little to good of a time down there,” replied Bastion as he and Alexis looked at him.

            “As long as his hands stay up there, I think we should be good.”

            “Ew. Why’d you have to say that,” said Alexis as she shuddered.

            “If I have to suffer with thinking it, then you have to too.”

            “How nice,” said Bastion with a chuckle.

            “I try,” said Rose. “That’s a lie, I’m not even trying.”

            “Anyway, the Gate Guardian on offense and that wall on defense? Almost flawless.”

            “We get it!” said Alexis, annoyed. “Now are you going to be quite or are we going to have to move?”

            “Hehe,” chuckled Rose. **‘I really hope nothing gets to violent as I’m sitting between them. I knew I should have asked Zane to sit with us.’**

            “You know, Sy’s monster definitely remind me of him,” said Bastion.

            “Yeah.”

            “Small and cute,” said Alexis as the two girls giggled and Bastion chuckled.

            “Lets hope that Syrus thinks things through before he plays anything. I feel like he’s starting to psych himself out.”

            “He’s at 1,700 life points. I don’t blame him,” said Bastion.

            “Attention Jaden Yuki,” said the announcer, “it is your turn. You must make a move, or you will be disqualified.”

            “Well, it’s two monsters to none,” said Bastion as the three looked on. “That’s a simple calculation to figure. they’ll be knackered.”

            “How kind of you, Bastion,” said Rose with annoyance.

            “Now you’re dogging them in words I can’t even understand,” said Alexis in anger.

            “We have to believe that Jaden has some sort of strategy to get them through this. It’s obvious that Syrus is a little to freaked out to think of anything at the moment.”

            “Oh, I’m certain that Jaden does. But we have to be concerned about Syrus. He’s walked into every trap, spell, and attack that the Paradox brothers have played. He’s been horrible,” said Bastion, giving his honest opinion.

            “You know, on second thought, I liked it better when I couldn’t understand what you were saying,” said Alexis as she looked like she was ready to hit Bastion.

            **‘Note to self, don’t piss Alexis off,’** thought Bastion as he looked at Alexis. He then glanced at Rose and sweat dropped **. ‘Though, I think I should be more afraid of Rose.’**

            **‘Idiot!’** thought Rose as she stared Bastion down. If looks could kill, Bastion would be dead.

            “Sorry,” said Bastion as he tried to smile at the two girls.

            “Come on,” said Rose as she looked back at the two boys. **‘You guys got this!’**

            “Is Crowler laughing to himself?” asked Alexis, causing the other two to look in the same direction.

            “Creepy.”

            “Agreed,” said Bastion with a grimace.

            “I wonder what Jaden’s obsession with superheroes is,” wondered Alexis as Jaden played Sparkman.

            “Same could be asked of you or me,” said Rose.

            “Well, that was certainly an odd choice,” said Bastion. “Unless Jaden has something planned, I’m afraid he’s waisted his move.”

            “They’re at 1,200,” said Rose after Syrus’ attack.

            “No way!” said Alexis after they beat their Gate Guardian. Everyone started cheering.

            “Did you see that? Did you? Tell me you saw that?” said Bastion in shock.

            “No,” said Rose sarcastically, “I missed it. Of course, we saw that Bastion! We’re sitting right here.”

            “Ahh.”

            “But you know what amazes me even more than them taking down that Gate Guardian?” asked Alexis. “The team work they used to do it with.”

            “That’s what its going to take to win this!” said Rose in happiness. “YOU GO BOYS!”

            “WE GOT THIS ROSE!” yelled Jaden in response as he waved at the purple haired girl.

            “Let’s hope they can keep up that team work,” said Bastion as he smiled at Jaden waving at Rose.

            “Why are they thanking them?” asked Alexis in worry as the brothers then summed their Dark Guardian.

            “Invincible in battle and has those attack points?” asked Bastion in shock.

            “Shit,” said Rose in anger.

            “That’s it,” said Bastion in fear and shock. “If this connects, Jaden and Syrus will lose.”

            “Jaden,” said Rose in sadness and fear. **‘Please, don’t lose!’**

            “He did it,” said Alexis as Jaden managed to save their life points.

            “Go Tempest!” said Rose as Jaden played the card.

            “Fine creature, but it still can’t beat their guardian,” said Bastion.

            “Bastion! Who’s side are you on?” asked Rose after she smacked him on the back of the head.

            “Sorry,” said Bastion as he rubbed his head.

            “I don’t get it?” said Alexis after Jaden’s attack. “Was he hopping for a tie?”

            “He has his reasons?” asked Rose as Dark Guardian attack Tempest.

            “They’re sneaky ones. For Tempest to keep tying with Dark Guardian, Jaden will have to keep sacrificing cards.”

            “And whatever edge they give him,” said Bastion.

            “Shit! They’re at 200!” said Rose in shock **. ‘Come on! You guys got to win!’**

            “We got this Sy!” yelled Jaden, shocking everyone.

            “No way,” said Alexis as Syrus played his cards right and managed to win the duel.

            “Well, well, they won!” said Bastion in happiness. “I’m getting more impressed every day!”

            “I’m just happy that Jaden gets to stay here!” said Rose with a smile.

            “Oh? And what about Syrus?” asked Alexis with a smirk.

            “Yes Rose. What about Syrus?” asked Bastion with a similar smirk.

            “Well, I’m sure Zane is happy for Syrus, so I can be happy for Jaden,” she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away with a blush, causing the other two to laugh.

            “Well, should we go and help Jaden with his report?” asked Rose as the three listen to Jaden go on and on about having to do a ten-page report.

            “Perhaps we should,” said Bastion as the three joined everyone else in clapping for the two boys.

            **‘I’m happy that they both get to stay. I’m happier with Jaden staying, if he left, then things wouldn’t be as interesting,’** thought Rose as she smiled at the two boys. “Lets go help Jaden before he has a panic attack.”

            “Yeah,” said Alexis.

            “That boy really needs to learn to put more time into his studies,” said Bastion as the three moved. The two girls laughed.

            “Then he wouldn’t be Jaden,” laughed Rose.

            “True,” said Bastion as they walked toward the arena.


	9. Formula for Success

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 12

                “Why do the boys get to play baseball? Why do we have to run?” complained Rose as she ran next to Alexis.

                “Why are you complaining? You’re two laps ahead of everyone!” yelled Alexis and some other girls.

                “Doesn’t mean I want to be doing it,” grumbled Rose.

                “Alright girls! You’re done! Great job Rose!” said Miss Fontaine.

                “Well, lets hit the showers!” said Alexis as she and the other went to the locker room.

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

                “Ahh! That felt nice,” said Mindy.

                “Yeah! I can’t believe you run so fast Rose!” said Jasmine.

                “Yeah, I like to run when I need to think, but it doesn’t mean I like to do it all the time,” said Rose as she looked at Alexis who raised her hand in surrender.

                “Got it,” said Alexis. “Anyway, I have somethings to do, so I’ll see you guys later!”

                “Yeah, we have to work on a report for Crowler,” said Mindy as her and Jasmine left.

                “Well, best meet up with Bastion,” said Rose once she was alone.

                “Hey Rose!” said a voice. Rose turned around, only to see Chazz.

                “What do you want Chazz?” asked Rose in annoyance.

                “I just wanted to see if you wanted to hand with The Chazz,” said Chazz with a smirk.

                “No thank you. Besides, I promised Bastion I would help him with something. So later!” said Rose as she walked away.

                “Bastion! That bastered! Not only do I have to duel him, but he’s taking Rose too!” said Chazz in anger as he ran away.

**_~At the Ra Yellow Dorm~_ **

                “Now to just wait for Bastion,” said Rose as she stood outside his room. As she stood there she heard talking coming closer.

                “So, do you have a formula for everything Bastion?” asked Syrus.

                “You bet he does,” said Rose as she stood outside Bastion dorm room.

                “Rose!” said the two Slifers in shock.

                “You made it!” said Bastion in happiness.

                “Always do Bastion!” said Rose with a smile as she went to hug her friend.

                **‘They must be really good friends,’** thought Syrus as he looked at the two with a smile. He turned to Jaden to say something, only to freak out.

                **‘Why are they hugging?’** thought Jaden in anger as he watched the two.

                “Hey Syrus, Jaden!” said Rose as she went to hug the other two. She hugged Syrus first, who smiled and returned it, but he was quick to let go because of the look Jaden had given Bastion. She then moved on to Jaden, who immediately hugged her back and gave Bastion a look.

                **‘Someone is jealous,’** thought Bastion with a sweat drop. “Shall we go?”

                “Right,” said Syrus as Rose and Jaden let go of each other.

                The four walked to his room and Bastion opened it for them.

                “And, here we are,” said Bastion as he opened the door.

                “And where is that?” asked the two Slifer reds. Every wall and even the ceiling was covered formulas.

                “My lab, my workshop, my dorm room,” said Bastion as he walked in. “That area is for traps. That’s for spell cards. And that’s for, well, you get it.”

                “Wow, you put even more from the last time I was here,” said Rose as she looked around.

                “You’ve been here before?” asked Jaden as he stared down Bastion. Rose’s back was to him, so she didn’t notice.

                “Yeah. I come over every once and a while so that we can work on anything to do with math. Bastion is a great teacher!” said Rose as she smiled at said male. Not noticing that Jaden was glaring at him.

                “Haha, yes. Would all of you like to help me paint over the walls?” asked Bastion as he gave everyone paint brushes.

                “Sure!” said Syrus and Rose as they took some.

                **‘Bastion,’** thought Jaden in anger as he took some as well.

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

                “Check it out! I’m Michelangelo!” laughed Jaden. Causing the others to laugh.

                “Be careful Jaden,” said Rose as she watched Jaden who was on top of a ladder.

                “Get it? ‘Cause I’m painting on the ceiling!” laughed Jaden, till he fell and ended up hitting Syrus with his paint brush.

                “What the!” yelled Syrus as he was hit. “You do realize that this means war, Jay.”

                “Now look Sy, it was an accident!” yelled Jaden as Syrus threw paint at him, only to hit Bastion.

                “Hahahahaha,” Jaden laughed at Bastion as Rose went to check on him.

                “Bastion?” question Rose in concern as Bastion grabbed more paint.

                “Funny, is it?” asked Bastion as he hit Jaden. Jaden then tried to hit him back causing all four of them to laugh.

**_~After getting cleaned up~_ **

                “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good time painting,” said Jaden as he ate. “Hay, you’re all right Bastion.”

                “Yeah, and so is Ra Yellow’s food!” said Syrus.

                “Oh! You flatter us,” said Bastion. “But I heard Obelisk Blue has better food.”

                “That we do!” said Rose from where she sat next to Jaden.

                “Wow, look at that lobster!” said Syrus as Bastion placed it down.

                “The closest we get to lobster is our dorm cats’ breath,” said Jaden.

                “Speaking about bottom dwellers, what was Crowler talking to you about?”

                “He wants me to test about being an Obelisk,” said Bastion with a smile.

                “Really! That would be cool!” said Rose with a smile.

                “Is that why you were cleaning up your dorm?” asked Jaden.

                “You deserve it!” said Syrus.

                “Again, you flatter me,” said Bastion as the two boys continued to praise him.

                “We can say we know you when!” said both boys.

                “Thank you,” said Bastion, flattered.

                “Your welcome! Now if you will excuse us,” said Jaden as the two stuffed their mouths.

                “So, who are you dueling?” asked Rose as the two others were distracted.

                “I don’t know yet,” said Bastion as he began to clean up with Roses help. “Anyway, we should really get you to your dorm, Rose.”

                “Yeah. You boys don’t mind escorting me over there, do you boys?”

                “No problem!” said all three as they got up.

                “Then let’s go!”

**_~Near The Girl Dorms~_ **

                “Thanks for walking me!” said Rose as she smiled at the three.

                “Of course! My parents would be mad if I simply let a lady wonder home by herself,” said Bastion.

                “Yeah, you don’t know what types of creeps are out there!” said Syrus.

                “Like Chazz or Crowler,” said Jaden with a shudder.

                “True,” laughed Rose. “Well let me give you guys a present!”

                “You don’t-“ started Bastion, only to be cut off by Rose kissing his left cheek. He blushed in response. She then went and kissed Syrus on his right cheek which caused the teal haired boy to blush like crazy and nearly faint. She then moved on to Jaden who was looking at the other two boys from the corner of his eye. She kissed his left check and blushed once she pulled away. He blushed in response.

                “Bye boys!” said Rose as she ran to her dorm.

                “R-right! Good night!” yelled Bastion, still with a blush on his face.

                “We-well, you can come stay with us tonight Bastion,” said Syrus. “Right Jay? Jay? Jaden!”

                Jaden was looking at where Rose had been with a blush and a goofy smile on his face.

                “I think she might of broke him,” said Bastion as he looked at Jaden.

                “Maybe,” said Syrus as he started to yell for Jaden.

                ‘What?” said Jaden after a few minutes.

                “Lets go back to our dorm,” said Syrus.

                “Yeah,” said Jaden as he walked off.

                “He’s got it bad,” said Bastion.

                “Oh yeah,” said Syrus as they followed him.

**_~The Next Day~_ **

                “I think I’m ready,” said Rose as she walked out of the dorm rooms.

                “That’s good,” said a male voice.

                “Huh?” question Rose as she turned to her left to see Zane and Alexis there.

                “We were waiting,” said Alexis with a smile.

                “Sorry to keep you guys waiting!” said Rose as she walked up to them. Zane turned to go, and the two girls followed behind him.

                “Rose, there is something we need to tell you,” said Zane.

**_~At the Arena~_ **

                “Then he must have been the one that tossed your cards!” declared Jaden.

                “Pardon?” questioned Crowler in shock.

                “I don’t know what he’s talking about, Dr. Crowler, I didn’t do a thing,” said Chazz.

                “Oh? Is that so?” said Rose as she, Zane, and Alexis walked into the arena.

                “Zane? Alexis? Rose?” question Jaden as everyone turned to look at them.

                “I saw you, Chazz,” said Alexis. “This morning, by the water. You dumped them in and ran off.”

                Everyone gasped in shock and Crowler looked somewhat annoyed. Weather it was because a student sabotage another or because and Obelisk got caught, no one could tell.

                “I normally wouldn’t snitch, but you don’t mess with someone’s deck.”

                “Yeah, no joke! That’s low for even you!” said Jaden in anger.

                “Aw, come on,” said Chazz in defense. “Who’s to say I wasn’t throwing away my own cards? I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks, that’s all.”

                “Liar!”

                “No one calls me a liar, and no one calls me a thief!”

                “Fine, then you’re not! Let’s just have our duel, shall we?” said Bastion in anger.

                “But how?” asked Jaden in shock.

                “A good duelist always has a spare deck. Or a few of them,” said Bastion as he messed with his jacket. “After all, you saw all my different formulas. Well they were for all my different dueling decks!”

                He opened his jacket to show six different decks. Everyone was shocked except for Rose who knew about it.

                “And each one of this is as powerful as the next!”

                “Yeah, well you can go and have your six stinking decks! ‘Cause all I need is one!” said Chazz. “Now let’s start this!”

                “I thought you would never ask, Chazz.”

                “You got this Bastion!” said Rose, trying to encourage her friend.

                **‘Why is she cheering him! She should be cheering for me in a cute cheer uniform,’** thought Chazz as his imagination went wild.

                **‘Bastion,’** thought Jaden. He couldn’t tell if he should be annoyed or happy since Rose was cheering for their friend.

                “Hope you’re ready, ‘cause here comes the hurt!” yelled Chazz as he drew a card. “I summon Chthonian Solder! Then, a card facedown and that’ll do for now.”

                “Oh, will it now?” asked Bastion as he drew a card.

                “Sounds like Bastion’s got something up his sleeve,” said Jaden.

                “He works quickly,” said Alexis.

                “That’s Bastion for you,” said Rose.

                “I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode!” said Bastion. “Rise, Hydrogeddon! Now, attack Chthonian Soldier with Hydro Gust! Destroy him!”

                Chazz’s life points went down to 3,600.

                “Thanks, you just activated my Chthonian Soldier’s special ability! It causes you to take the same amount of damage to your life points that I did!” said Chazz as Bastion’s life points went down to 3,600.

                “Not bad,” said Zane.

                “Bastion sure walked right into that one,” said Jaden.

                “He has a plan, he always does,” said Rose with a smirk.

                “I activate a special ability also,” said Bastion. “You see, Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a monster in battle, I’m allowed to immediately summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck! So, rise! Hydrogeddon! And, my battle phase still continues. Which means I can now wage a direct attack against you, Chazz!

                “So, go, Hydrogeddon! Hydro Gust!” yelled Bastion as his attack hit and brought Chazz’s life points to 2,000.

                “Hey guys, I’ve been wondering,” started Rose as she saw Chazz get back up after an attack from Bastion.

                “What is it Rose?” asked Syrus.

                “How come everyone acts as if they are actually getting physically hit when they aren’t?”

                “Uhh?’ said Syrus, Jaden, and Alexis as they tried to think about it.

                “Its because everyone gets caught up in the moment,” replied Zane as he watched the duel.

                “Hmm,” said Rose as she started to smirk. “Its funny watching everyone look like they were about to die.”

                **‘Why do she have a smirk,’** thought Syrus in fear.

                **‘Scary,’** thought Alexis in fear.

                **‘I don’t think I should get her mad,’** though Jaden in fear as he backed up a little.

                **‘Note to self, don’t leave Rose with anyone who angers her,’** thought Zane as he looked at the shorter girl.

                “I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted,” said Chazz. “With it, I can summon one monster from my graveyard! And the monster I summon is Chthonian Soldier! Next, I’ll activate the spell card Inferno Reckless Summon. It allows us both to summon in attack mode any monster from our deck, hand, and graveyard that are the same as the monsters we already have on the field.”

                “It makes no sense,” said Alexis. “It doesn’t matter how many of those Chazz brings out, they still won’t have enough attack points to beat those Hydrogeddons.”

                “Not by themselves they won’t,” replied Zane.

                “I activate the equip spell card Chthonian Alliance!” said Chazz as he played his card. “The monster equipped with this card gains 800 attack points for every monster that has the same name as him. That brings his attack point total to. Well, you’re the math nerd. You can figure it out! Attack Chthonian Soldier!”

                The attack caused Bastion’s life points to go down to 1,600.

                “Oh no!” said Jaden.

“Don’t worry about Bastion,” said Rose after Chazz attacked Bastion. “He knows what he’s doing!”

“Bravo. Good show,” said Bastion as he drew a card, “but it will be short-lived! Rise Oxygeddon! Now attack the 1,200 attack points Chthonian Soldier with Vapor Stream!”

“Forget?” asked Chazz as his life points went down to 1,400. “When my Soldier’s destroyed, you take the same damage as me! Some whiz kid you are!”

“My turns not through!” said Bastion as his life points went down to 1,000. “Next, my Hydrogeddon attacks another of your Soldiers!”

                “That damage is still all going back to you, loser!” said Chazz as his life points went down to 1,000.

                “Aw man, why does he keep attacking?” said Syrus as Bastion’s life points went down to 600. “He’s only hurting himself.”

                “Nah, he’s fine!” said Jaden with a smile.

                “Bastion’s playing smart,” said Zane with a smile. “The Chthonian Soldier with the equip magic card has 3,600 attack points. Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to destroy him. Unless, however. . .”

                “Wait! I see!” said Syrus in happiness. “Unless he takes out the other Chthonians and lowers the big one’s attack points!”

                “Right Sy, so if Bastion’s going to beat that thing, he’s got to give up some life points,” said Jaden.

                “Bastion always has a plan, no matter what,” said Rose with a smile.

                “Last, I’ll place a facedown card! And that will do for now,” said Bastion.

                “Wil it?” asked Chazz. “I wouldn’t be so sure Whiz-kid. I’m sacrifice Chthonian Soldier and all the cards in my hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator!” laughed Chazz like a mad man. “Didn’t you see that coming, did you?”

                “Infernal Incinerator?” asked Bastion in shock.

                “Better break out your calculator ‘cause if you can’t find a formula to beat this guy this turn, you’re toast!” laughed Chazz. “Face it, Bastion. You don’t stand a chance against the Infernal Incinerator! Especially since his attack points increase by 200 for every monster you have out on the field!”

                “That thing has 3,400 attack points? That means no matter which monster receives the attack, Bastion is finished!” said Jaden in shock.

                “Now, Infernal Incinerator attack with Firestorm Blast!” said Chazz as is monster attacked.

                “Bastion!” yelled Jaden and Rose.

                “I activate my trap,” said Bastion. “Amorphous Barrier! When I have three or more monsters on my side of the field, this trap negates my opponent’s attack and ends the battle. But nice try, Chazz.”

                “Aw, so what?” asked Chazz with a smirk. “One turn. That’s all it buys you, then you’ll be all mine!”

                “I’m afraid there won’t be a next turn,” said Bastion.

                “What?”

                “You heard me. And I activate the spell card Bonding H2O! I sacrifice two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon and summon Water Dragon! And since the number of monsters on my side of the field decreased, your Infernal Incinerator’s attack points decrease.

                “Doesn’t matter, my monster’s attack points are still higher than yours,” said Chazz.

                “Better double-check your work. Because I’ve already done all the math!” said Bastion with a smirk.

                “All the math?” question Crowler in shock.

                “Bastion‘s had all of this planned out from the very start?” said Jaden in shock as a tidal wave hit Chazz’s monster.

                “No, his attack points!” yelled Chazz.

                “Indeed, that’s Water Dragon’s special ability!” explained Bastion. “You see, when he’s out on the field, the attack points of Fire Attribute and Pyro-Type monsters automatically become zero. Now, Water Dragon, attack! Tidal Blast!

                “A well-played duel, Chazz,” said Bastion after winning, “but not well enough.”

                “Pure luck! You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win!” said Chazz in anger. “That’s all!”

                “Perhaps. But luck favors the prepared. And I was prepared to beat you with a half dozen other cards, as well. Sorry. You would have lost the duel one way or another. But deny it if you want. Just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean.”

                “Yeah? Prove it!”

                “Well, if you insist,” said Bastion as he took something out of his pocket. “Here, a card I fished out. With a formula I wrote on it. I supposed you could’ve written it, but then the math would’ve probably been wrong, and it’s not.

                “Chazz, you stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserve to be demoted.”

                “This can’t be,” said Chazz in shock and denial.

                “Bastion Misawa! Congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue!” said Crowler in happiness.

                “No,” said Bastion, shocking everyone. “I must decline that indentation.”

                “What? But what for?”

                “When I first entered the academy, I decided I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class,” said Bastion as he turned to Jaden. “Jaden, of all the new freshman, I think that student is you.”

                “Hey! Thanks! Dose that mean you want to settle this right here?” asked Jaden in excitement. “I mean, seeing you guys duel really made me want to get my game on!”

                “Sorry, but not now.”

                “But why not?”

                “Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you. Many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to balance. You’re a good duelist Jaden and I plan to be ready.”

                “Smart move!”

                “He didn’t have to prepare for me! He won with just one day’s notice!” said Chazz in anger.

                “Don’t worry Jaden, soon my dorm room walls will be filled with new strategies and we will have our duel. Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game. You know, the one where I struck you out?”

                “You just keep dreamin’, Bastion! Baseball’s a pastime, but dueling is my life! Until then pal!” said Jaden in happiness.

                “Alright, until then it is!”

“Those two are fired up for sure,” said Rose with a laugh.

“Yup,” said Syrus with a sweat drop. “I hope they don’t go to crazy.”


	10. Courting Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 15

                “Alright class! Get your game on! Tennis game that is!” said Miss Fontaine.

                “Come on, would someone tell me what in the world tennis has to do with dueling?” asked Jaden in annoyance.

                “Everything!” said Mindy. “Taking turns, thinking on your feet, and the harder you play, the better you do!”

                “Well, in that case,” said Jaden as he hit the ball as hard as he could. The only problem is that it went to his right instead of straight, head right for Rose who was teamed up with Alexis.

                “Shit! Rose, head’s up!”

                “What?” said Rose in shock unable to move fast enough to block. Luckily for her, someone else was able to block it for her. Though, he did end up hitting Crowler in the face with it.

                “Thank you,” said Rose in gratitude.

                “Rose are you okay?” asked Alexis as Mindy and Jasmine showed up.

                “That ball almost creamed you,” said Jasmine.

                “yeah, would you like me to carry you to the nurse,” said the guy that saved Rose in an arrogant voice.

                “That’s okay, thanks though,” said Rose with a sweet smile.

                ‘That’s Rose Heartfilia,’ thought the boy to himself.

                “Uh? Do you need me to carry you to the nurse?” asked Rose as the boy started at her with a blush. **‘Does he have a fever?’**

                “No, I’m good. I just know you from Obelisk Blue, I’ve seen you around,” said the boy as he grabbed her hand, “Not that I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking to you.”

                “Kay?” said Rose, creeped out with him.

                “Let alone touch you. Anyway,” said the boy as he backed up, “Back to my match. What was the score?”

                “Love something I think,” said another boy.

                “That was weird,” said Alexis.

                “Yeah,” said Rose as she rubbed her hand on her shorts.

                “Good thing he left,” grumbled Jaden.

                “What was that?”

                “Nothing! I’m just glad you’re okay!”

**_~Some Time Later~_ **

                “Rose!” called Jasmine as she walked toward said girl in the locker room.

                “We found out who that hot tennis guy is for you,” said Mindy.

                “What are you they talking about?” asked Rose to Alexis who was at the locker next to her. Alexis just shrugged.

                “Anyway, he’s a total catch!”

                “Now try to stay calm,” started Jasmine.

                “Trust me, I’m calm,” said Rose in annoyance as Alexis giggled.

                “His name is Harrington Rosewood. As in Rosewood sporting goods, and they’ve got stores everywhere and he’s the heir. Plus, he’s a third year Obelisk Blue!”

                “And?” said Rose with a raised eyebrow.

                “An older guys who’s rich and a hottie? That’s boyfriend material, so go and get him!” said Mindy with excitement.

                “Girls, I’m just not interested in him,” said Rose with annoyance.

                “Besides, if she married him her name would be Rose Rosewood, sounds kind of weird to me,” said Alexis.

                “Aw man. Aw man. Aw man. Aw man,” cried Syrus as he ran around. “Where’s the lousy tennis team?”

                “What’s with super spazz over there?” asked Mindy.

                “Don’t know. Don’t care,” said Jasmine.

                “Rose, do you know where the tennis team meets?” asked Syrus to his friend.

                “At the courts,” said Rose with a ‘are you serious’ face.

                “What’s wrong?” asked Alexis.

                “What’s wrong? Everything’s wrong,” said Syrus as he ran.

                “Care to be more specific, Sy?’ asked Jasmine

                “No questions! He’ll only come back,” said Mindy.

                “it’s the most unfair thing ever,” said Syrus as he came back. “Dr. Crowler is letting the tennis captain boss Jaden around as punishment for hitting him with that ball.”

                “How’s that the most unfair thing ever?” asked Alexis.

                “’Cuz the captain’s the guy who really hit Crowler!”

                “Who’s the captain?” asked Mindy.

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

                “And done!” said Jaden as he fell over after hitting the ball. “With the first round.”

                “Hi Rose!” said Mindy as she saw Rose holding the ball Jaden had just hit.

                “Rose?” question Harrington with a smile.

                “Hmph,” went Rose as she started to walk forward.

                “hey there!” said Harrington as he walked up to her. “Sorry I’m sweating so much. I’ve just been kicking this guy’s –“

                “Jaden, you won’t believe what I’ve just heard,” said Rose, talking to Jaden and ignoring Harrington. “I was on my way here and I ran into Professor Banner. He told me someone’s spotted Chazz.”

                “No kidding. Well, where is he?” asked Jaden as he stood up to talk face to face with Rose.

                “Someone like Jaden talking to a princess like Rose? No fucking way!” said Harrington in anger. “Hey! Time out!”

                “What?” said Rose in shock as she and Jaden turned to look at Harrington.

                “You can’t talk to someone like Alexis! You can’t even play tennis right! So, stay away from my little Obelisk Pixie!”

                **‘Why the fuck is he giving me/her a pet name?’** thought both Rose and Jaden in annoyance.

                “Listen, Jaden, I’m warning you. Just step away from the beautiful girl. You’re way out of your league. Don’t make me go athletic on you,” said Harrington with fire blazing around him and in his eyes.

                “We’re talking here,” said Jaden, annoyed. **‘Who the hell is he to tell me not to talk Rose?’** “You were saying Rosie?”

                “ROSIE!?” said Harrington appearing between Rose and Jaden, freaking them out. “What is that? Some kind of pet name? Where’d it come from? What does it mean? What’s it short for?”

                “Rose,” said Jaden, unimpressed.

                “Sure, you’d like me to believe that, wouldn’t you? Well, I don’t. I don’t believe anything you say. Which is why this little huddle is over!”

                “Great, so then beat it!”

                “No way bro! Know your sports. When a huddle is over, you make your play, you don’t run away!”

                “I get it, you want a tennis match,” said Jaden annoyed **. ‘Can this idiot just leave us alone!’**

                “No way! I want a duel! Winner become Rose’s fiancé!”

                “What! Fiancé? Slow down!” said Rose in shock.

                “I just love weddings!” said Mindy in happiness.

                “Yeah, but I’m not so sure about arranged ones,” said Jasmine.

                “I’m happy its her and not me,” said Alexis.

                “I don’t agree with the stakes since it makes us take away Rose’s choice, but I’m always down to duel!” said Jaden with a smirk. **‘Though I wouldn’t mind being her fiancé.’**

                “Two cutie pie boys dueling it out for your hand in marriage!” said Mindy once Rose got to the others on the side lines. “How do you feel?”

                “Please Mindy, I’m not getting married,” said Rose pissed.

                “Oh fine, ‘engaged,’” laughed Jasmine.

                “I’m not getting engaged Jazz! The only reason I haven’t walked out of here yet is to see if the rumors are true,” said Rose.

                “To see if Harrington is really as good as Zane?” asked Alexis as Rose nodded.

                “Service!” said Harrington as he drew a card. “First, I’m gonna volley a spell card at you: Service Ace.”

                “A spell card already?” asked Jaden.

                “You got that right, and just like a power serve, it’s gonna make you sweat. Here’s how it works. I pick a card. Then you have to choose if it’s a spell, trap, or monster. If you guess right, you’re fine. But if you guess wrong, well then you get served with a stinging 1,500 points of damage.”

                “So, I just guess?” asked Jaden with a smile.

                “wow, this really is making Jaden sweat,” said Syrus.

                “Yeah, and hum, too,” said Mindy.

                “Look at you,” said Harrington with a swat drop. “I bet this is probably the best workout you’ve had all week long.”

                “Alright, I’ll guess,” said Jaden in annoyance. “It’s a spell card!”

                “You sure? You can still change your mind, ya know.”

                “Then wait,” said Jaden as he freaked out and changed his guess.

                “Monster,” said Harrington with a smug smirk. “Looks like we’ve found another thing you’re bad at, huh? Anyway, now we’ll put this card away and let loose the bid stroke. Service Ace! Good luck returning this shot, pal!”

                “His talking is even more annoying then with the Paradox brothers,” said Rose with her eye twitching as Jaden’s life points went down to 2,500.

                “Agreed,” said Jasmine, Syrus, and Alexis.

                “I think it’s cute,” said Mindy.

                “He keeps throwing tennis references where they don’t belong,” said Alexis as she looked at her friend as Harrington place a card facedown.

                “Your serve,” said Harrington as he smirked at Jaden.

                “Yeah, and I’d better make it count,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Elemental Hero Avian! Now Avian, show Harrington why you’re the real king court. Quill Cascade!”

                “Don’t think so, birdbrain. I activate Receive Ace. This trap card negates your attack then deal 1,500 damage points directly to you. Good luck feathering this storm. Though I do have to pay 3 cards because of the trap I played.”

                “Jaden’s at 1,000 life points!” said Syrus freaking out.

                **‘You better not lose Jaden!’** thought Rose as she glared at Harrington.

                **‘My love is looking at me!’** he thought with hearts in his eyes.

                **‘No way am I losing to this freak,’** thought Jaden as he threw down a facedown.

                “Boy, you are lazy, aren’t you?” asked Harrington with a smirk. “Hey bro, that’s fine! Makes it that much easier for me. I play Smash Ace. It let’s me flip the top card on my deck, and if it’s a monster-“

                “Lemme guess, I get nailed, right?” asked Jaden in annoyance.

                “Hey, you’re starting to get the swing of this, huh? And you will be getting swung at,” said Harrington as he grabbed the first card on his deck. “Oh yeah! A monster!

                “Lady luck, she hates me,” said Jaden as he rubbed his head. **‘She better not be costing me Rose!’**

                “Well, she loves me. Of course, most girls do,” said Harrington arrogantly. “Now get ready for Smash Ace!”

“JADEN! YOU BETTER WIN!” yelled Rose in anger as Harrington talked about how all girls love him.

                “My Obelisk Pixie! I will win for you!” said Harrington as he played his ace card.

                “She wasn’t talking to you!” yelled everyone else.

                “Sorry, but I’m activating my facedown card!” said Jaden as the attack was directed toward the spectators.

                “No way!” yelled Harrington.

                “Sorry pal, but your ace just got blown right out of bounds.”

                “Well, you know what they say: You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you’ve got to take hits to give ‘em,” laughed Harrington.

                “Great, he’s back on his cliché kick,” groaned Jaden. Then the two started laughing.

                “This is weird now,” said Alexis.

                “Just a little,” said Rose with a sweat drop. The two then got back to dueling.

                “Polymerization! Fuse Clayman and Burstinatrix into the Elemental Hero Rampart Burster!” said Jaden.

                “All right!” said Syrus. “That’s how you duel, Jaden!”

                “Like that?” said Jaden as he sent his monster to attack. He lowered Harrington’s life points from 4,000 to 1,000.

                “Way to go Jaden!”

                “Well, at least they stopped laughing,” said Rose.

                “Got any Clichés to say now?” asked Jaden.

                “I suppose,” said Harrington as he drew a card, “but I’ll let my cards do the talking for me. See this one says it all. Deuce!”

                “Another spell card?” asked Jaden as he scratched his cheek.

                “That’s right, but I guarantee you’ve never seen on like this before. I can only activate it when we both have 1,000 life points. And here’s how it works.”

                “Why is he fixing his hair?” asked Alexis as Harrington explained his spell card.

                “Who knows. Who cares,” replied Rose and Jasmine.

                “He’s so dreamy!” said Mindy.

                “I summon The Big Server!” said Harrington. “The reason his serve is so big is because it strikes directly at your life points. Now, Big Server, attack with Spiked Serve.”

                The attack nocked down Jaden’s life points to 600.

                “Rose will be mine!” said Harrington after he attacked Jaden. “Oh, and by the way, The Big Server has a special ability that lets me take Service Ace from my deck and place it in my hand. You get a new card too, but it won’t matter. I mean, let’s be real here. There’s no way it’ll be as good as this one. How could it be? Now draw your card.”

                Jaden drew his card and had no facial express, leaving everyone wondering what he drew.

                “All right, and now I’m serving up the spell card Service Ace,” said Harrington.

                **‘It comes down to this. Jaden, please don’t lose,’** thought Rose. **‘I don’t want to talk to the wierdo, let alone be his fiancé!’**

                **‘I hope I guess right!’** thought Jaden. “I guess you drew a monster card!”

                “You guess right,” said Harrington in annoyance.

                “Sweetness.”

                “Yeah, we’re still in it!” said Syrus in happiness.

                “Why are you saying that? You’re not playing,” asked Rose.

                “Oh yeah?” asked Harrington. “Tell me if you still think you’re in it after this! I play Giant Racket and equip it to Big Server. So, ya still in it?”

                “To win it,” said Jaden with a smile. “I can take that server guy down.”

                “Maybe, but you won’t be able to do it on your first try. See, when a monster is equipped with Giant Racket, it has a onetime power that allows it to turn any battle damage to zero.”

“Wait, and since your Deuce only allows me to attack with one monster per turn, I won’t be able to destroy him,” said Jaden in shock. “Big Server can’t be beat by one attack.”

                “Exactly right,” said Harrington with a smug look. “So, as you can see, you’re not in it, you’re not all over it, you’re just about to lose it.”

“Here we go, draw!” yelled Jaden as he drew a card. “Sweet! The ball’s in my court now. First, I activate the spell card Diffusion. With it, I’ll defuse Rampart Blaster. Now I have three monsters on the field, Which means even if you block my first attack, I can still hit you with two more.”

“Then you’ll lose the duel,” said Harrington arrogantly. “I’m starting to see why you’re ranked as a Slifer, because you don’t listen. As long as my spell card is out, you can only attack with one monster per turn. It doesn’t matter if you have three.”

“I’m starting to see why you’re a snobby Obelisk,” laughed Jaden.

“What?”

“’Cuz you really underestimate your opponents. I play the spell card Feather Shot. It lets Avian attack once for every monster I have on the field,” said Jaden with a smirk. “I drew this card when you activated The Big Server’s special effect. Remember what you said?

“Yeah, well, guess what? It mattered! Go Avian! Attack with Quill Cascade times three!

“Well, that settles that!” said Jasmine with a smile.

                “He’s getting married!” yelled Syrus in happiness.

“Syrus,” said Alexis.

“I mean, someday he will, maybe?”

                “Rosie?” said Mindy.

                “This can’t be!” said Harrington in denial.

                “That’s game!” cheered Jaden.

                “But she was my soulmate! My first draft pick! My marquee girlfriend!” he cried as he then ran away.

                **‘What the hell?’** thought Jaden with a sweat drop.

                “Wow, you had to work for that one, Jaden,” said Syrus as the group walked up to him.

                “Hey, no pain, no gain,” said Jaden as he rubbed the back of his head.

                “Speaking of gain, has Jaden gained a wife?” asked Alexis as she smirked at Rose.

                “So romantic!” said Mindy.

                “Well Rose, guess I’m your fiancé,” said Jaden as he walked toward Rose.

                “Is he actually going through with it?” asked Syrus in shock.

                “Oh my!” said Jasmine as she clapped her hands together.

                “Do I have to get you a ring?” asked Jaden with a laugh.

                “I don’t think we need to worry about that for now,” laughed Rose.

                “Let’s go guys,” said Alexis as she walked out, leading the others with Jaden and Rose in the back.

                “Hey Jaden,” said Rose causing Jaden to stop and turn to look at her.

                “Yeah?” said Jaden, but he was shocked when Rose kissed him on the lips.

                “Consider that my thanks, and we’ll see about anything in the future,” said Rose with a blush and wink. She then ran.

                “She kissed me,” said Jaden as he blushed. **‘So, I have a chance to actually be her fiancé?’**

                “Hold up guys!” yelled Jaden when he noticed everyone was leaving him behind.


	11. VS. Yugi's Deck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 18 – 19

                “Did you hear?” asked Mindy.

                “Hear what?” asked Rose.

                “About Yugi Moto’s deck? It’s going to be here on display!”

                “Yeah, I already got tickets for it,” said Rose like it was no big deal.

                “She’s more interested in Lilly Kaiba’s deck,” said Alexis.

                “Isn’t that one on display too?” asked Jasmine.

                “It is!” said Rose with sparkles in her eyes.

                “I can’t wait!” said Jasmine.

                “So, is Lilly really your idol?” asked Mindy.

                “Yeah! I love her dueling style and how kind she is!” said Rose with a smile.

                “It also helps that she is like Cinderella, but instead of the evil step mom and sisters, she got two new stepbrothers and an awesome boyfriend!” said Alexis.

                “Yugi Moto!” said the for girls as the giggled.

                “Anyway, I have a report to work on,” said Alexis as she started to walk toward the dorms.

                “I have homework,” said Mindy in defeat.

                “Same,” said Jasmine as they fallowed Alexis.

                “Rose,” said a male voice. Rose turned around to see Zane standing by a tree.

                “Hi Zane!” said Rose as she walked up to him.

                “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to see Yugi’s and Lilly’s deck tonight,” said Zane with a smirk.

                “You want to sneak in?” said Rose as she raised her eyebrow.

                “Yes.”

                “I’m down!” said Rose with a smile.

                “Then I’ll see you tonight.

**_~That night~_ **

                “Rose, you ready to go?” asked Zane as he stood outside the girls’ dorm.

                “Yeah,” said Rose as she walked up to him. The two then walked to where Yugi’s and Lilly’s decks were being held.

                “So, what’s the chances of someone stealing them?” asked Rose.

                “With the decks being the King and Queen of Games, high,” said Zane as they neared the museum, only to see Crowler freaking out. “And it looks like it has already happened.”

                “Well we better go look for them,” said Rose as the two went to Crowler to ask what happened. Once they found out everything, they went looking around.

                 “So apparently Jaden and his friends went to stop them,” said Zane.

                “Hmm. Makes sense,” said Rose as the two walked around. They then came upon the duel about to start between Jaden and Ra Yellow student Dimitri.

                “Well, we best watch,” said Rose as the two stooped to watch the duel that was about to start.

                “Alright, here I come!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “First off, I play Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode. And that’ll do.”

                “Wil it?” asked Dimitri. “I fuse Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet to create Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!”

                “Why dose he change his voice?” asked Rose to Zane.

                “Who knows,” said Zane.

                “Looks like more people are here.”

                “Hmm.”

                “Uh-oh,” said Jaden. “This isn’t gonna be pretty.”

                “Now go. Attack! Pulverizing Pounce!” said Dimitri.

                “Do you think we will see Kariboh?” asked Rose with starts in her eyes. Zane just chuckled.

                “Perhaps,” he said to her.

                “Fucking Bastion owes me a Winged Kariboh plushie!” cried out Rose as she looked at the duel.

                “I know the exhibit is selling a regular Kariboh one, we can get it tomorrow.”

                “Really?” asked Rose with pure happiness.

                “Yes,” chuckled Zane as he patted her on the head. “Now let’s watch.”

                “Alright!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “So, you like fusing monsters, do you? Well, then, you’ll love this! Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman combine to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!

                “And now I’m gonna use his special ability! It let’s me destroy a monster whose original attack points are less than his own.”

                “Nice ability! Now, let me show you mine!” yelled Dimitri “When Chimera’s destroyed, I’m allowed to summon back Berfomet from the graveyard.”

                “Yeah, well he won’t be back for very long!” cried Jaden “Thunder Giant, attack! Voltic Thunder!”

                “Who do you think will win?” asked Rose with curiosity.

                “I’m not sure, Yugi’s deck is legendary,” said Zane.

                “But Yugi isn’t the one using it.”

                “True. We will have to see if Dimitri knows how to play his cards right.”

                “Alright. For my turn, I place one card facedown and play this: Monster Reincarnation,” said Dimitri. “Now, by discarding one card, I get back one monster from my graveyard, Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts, return!

                “And now, I activate the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light!”

                “Hey, what’s happening?” asked Jaden.

                **‘How does he not know about this card?** ’ thought Rose with a sweat drop.

                “Not your attacks, that’s what! For three turns, your monsters are useless,” said Dimitri.

                “Three turns?!” yelled Jaden.

                “You should really make him study,” said Zane to Rose.

                “Why me?” asked Rose.

                “Because he’s scared of you,” said Zane as he looked on **. ‘He also happens to have the biggest crush on you.’**

                “Fine,” said Rose in defeat.

                “I gotta find a way to break that spell!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Go, Dark Catapulter!”

                “Dark Catapulter has the ability to destroy that spell card,” said Zane impressed.

                “I have a trap card out: Dark Renewal, it activates when you make a summoning.” Said Dimitri. “Now, by sacrificing one of your monsters as well as one of my own, I can bring back a spell-caster monster from the graveyard!”

                “It’s too bad you don’t have any there then,” said Jaden. “By my count, the only two monsters in your grave are Chimera and Berfromet.”

                “Then you may want to double-check your work. Remember when I played Monster Reincarnation?”

                “Smart move,” said Zane.

                “Now, to bring back that spell-caster,” said Dimitri as his coffin showed up. “Alright, Gazelle and Catapulter, make some room for the one, the only, my friend, Dark Magician!”

                “No way!” said Rose in shock.

                “Amazing,” said Zane in shock. “That’s Yugi’s trump card. It’s said to have gotten him out of a lot of situations.”

                **‘How odd,’** thought Rose a she looked at The Dark Magician, **‘he looks angry.’**

                In response to her thoughts, Rose Guardian appeared behind her, getting Dark Magician’s attention. He then glanced at Rose who looked back at him in shock.

                “Well, Thunder Giant,” said Jaden after he got over his star-struck state, “you may not be able to attack yet, but you can still defend! And that’s exactly what I’m going to have you do, buddy! You’re go Dimitri.”

                “That’s Yugi,” said Dimitri.

                “Do we need to get him help?” asked Rose.

                “Hopefully not,” replied Zane.

                “I choose to play the magic card Thousand Knives!” said Dimitri. “And when I activate it with Dark Magician on the field, they can be used to destroy any one of your monsters!

                “Let’s see how you like getting struck by your star! Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!”

                _“He doesn’t want to do it,”_ said a voice. Rose turned to see Rose Guardian _. “He is angry he is being forced to fight with someone who is acting like Yugi.”_

                “That makes sense,” mumbled Rose as she saw how Dark Magician attacked Jaden and reduce his life points to 1,500.

                “Give up?” asked Dimitri.

                “NEVER!” yelled Jaden.

                “That’s the spirit! Never give up,” said Dimitri as he started to give Jaden a pep talk. Jaden just gritted his teeth and drew a card.

                “Wroughtwiler in defensive mode. And that’s it.”

                “He might have a plan,” said Zane as they watched on. “The question is if he can get the cards he needs to execute it.”

                “Did you forget? With swords of Light out, you still can’t attack,” said Dimitri. “But I can! Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!”

                “Hey, congrats!” said Jaden as his monster was attacked. You’ve just activated Wrouvhtweiler’s special ability! You see, once he’s sent to the graveyard, I get to bring back an Elemental Hero and Polymerization.”

                “Way to play!” said Dimitri with a smile.

                “Good play! You really show promise,” said Dimitri.

                “This is getting weird,” said Rose.

                “It past weird a long time ago,” replied Zane.

                “This guy is really starting to bug me!” said Jaden as he grabbed a card. “Rise, Burstinatrix! Then I’m gonna throw down a facedown and call it a turn.”

                “It’s been three turns,” said Zane as the Swords of Revealing Lite disappeared.

                “Jaden,” said Rose as she watched on. **‘You need to win this, Dark Magician and more than likely, the others, don’t want to be dueling right now.’**

                “Dark Magician, attack Hero Burstinatrix!” yelled Dimitri.

                “Not so fast, Dimitri!” yelled Jaden in return. “I played a trap: A Hero Emerges! And it activates as soon as you declare an attack!

                “Now, you have to pick a card at random from my hand,” said Jaden as he showed his hand, “and if it’s a monster, I get to summon it to the field! Now choose!”

                “So be it,” said Dimitri as he pointed at a card. “I choose, the far left.”

                “Good choice,” said Jaden as he grabbed the card, “for me that is! Come on out, Bladedge!”

                “Go Jaden,” said Rose as she watched.

                “The Dark Magician is the strongest monster card in my deck, but as a duelist, you must know that it’s rarely just about the card its what you do with it,” laughed Dimitri. “And what I’m going to do is play this: Dedication Through Light and Darkness. It takes Dark Magician and turns him into something even more powerful!”

                **‘He looks scared,’** thought Rose as she watched the Dark Magician get absorbed. **‘I hope this duel ends soon.’**

                “The legendary: Dark Magician of Chaos!” said Dimitri with a smirk. “I’m about to unleash him on you, Jaden! Chaos Magician, rise!

                “Now, just by successfully summoning him I’m allowed to bring one magic card from my graveyard to my hand. Oh, and in case you haven’t done the math yet, Bladedge doesn’t have the most attack points anymore. Chaos Magician does!”

                “2,800?!” yelled Jaden in shock.

                “Yes! Now, watch them all in action! Scepter Strike!” yelled Dimitri as his monster attack, reducing Jaden’s life points down to 1,300. “Just face it this deck and I fit perfectly. Always have and always will!”

                “This doesn’t look good for Jaden,” said Zane as he and Rose watched on along with all the other students who showed up.

                “I’m sure he has a plan,” replied Rose **. ‘At least I hope he does. Dimitri still has 4,000 life points.’**

                “My turn!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Alright then. I play my pal Winged Kuriboh!”

                “So cute!” squealed Rose.

                **‘Note to self, buy Rose the Kuriboh tomorrow,’** thought Zane.

                “And while he’s chilliin’ in defense mode, I’ll also throw down a facedown!” said Jaden, In response Dimitri played Kuriboh.

                “KURIBOH!” said Rose with hearts in her eyes. Zane just glanced at her with a sweat drop.

                **‘Definitely should get her the toy after this,’** thought Zane as he looked back at the duel.

                “But first things first Jaden, Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Burstinatrix!” said Dimitri as his monster attacked.

                “Ha! I’ve got a trap! Super Junior Confrontation!” said Jaden as he revealed his card. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinkin’. Sounds kinds weak, doesn’t it? Well, that’s just the point, this trap calls of your Magician’s attack and forces both of our weakest monsters to do battle, weakest in points, that is. So, it’s gonna be your Kuriboh against mine!”

                “How cute!” said Rose.

                “Ha. You got off easy, but next turn you won’t,” said Dimitri as he placed a card facedown. “I end with a face down.”

                “My go!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “And I play Pot of Greed! It lets me draw two cards.”

He grabbed two cards and looked at them with a smirk, “and they’re two sweet ones! Hope ya like playin’ with bubbles cuz I’m summonin’ Elemental Hero Bubbleman! And I’ll play a field spell one ya might need a hard hat for! Skyscraper!”

“Good job Jaden,” said Rose.

“What the? What’s the meaning of these buildings?!” said Dimitri in shock as building grew around him.

“Here, an Elemental Hero gains a thousand attack points if it’s weaker than the monster it’s attacking!” explained Jaden.

“But that would mean that,” said Dimitri in shock.

“You’re in trouble! Especially since I’m gonna play this too: The equip spell Bubble Blaster! And this thing packs some pop!” said Jaden with a smile. “800 points worth! Plus, if Bubbleman ever gets attacked, Bubble Blaster takes the hit for him! Now, to give him those extra attack points and now, to use ‘em!”

“I play the magic card multiply!” said Dimitri as a number of Kuriboh’s appeared.

“Dreams come true!” said Rose with happiness causing Zane to chuckle.

“Shit,” said Jaden.

“By sacrificing one Kuriboh, I can now summon Kuriboh Tokens on all open spaces in my monster card zone,” explained Dimitri. “Of course, your blast is still in play, but its significance has been deflated.”

“Fine. Then I’ll just end my turn by throwin’ down a facedown,” said Jaden.

“Very well!” said Dimitri as he drew a card. “And I’ll throw this: The Magical Card of Sanctity! It forces each of us to draw until we both have six cards in our hand!”

The two drew cards until they each had six, with Jaden having to draw the most amount of cards.

“Excellent,” said Dimitri as he showed a card. “I drew the monster Watapon! You see, if Watapon is drawn to my hand by way of magic, trap, or monster effect, I can summon it to the field. But still, he won’t be out for long because now I’m going to sacrifice him and bring out Dark Magician Girl!”

“How cool! I wonder if it will be like this to see Light Magician Girl too! I wish I could see Lilly’s deck in action too!” said Rose with a smile.

“They have a poster of the two monsters at the exhibit,” said Zane. “We can get that tomorrow too.”

“Yay!” said Rose in happiness.

“Wow, She’s even cuter in person!” said Jaden as he looked at the monster. “Though Rose is cutter.”

“What?” asked Rose in shock as Zane smirked and chuckled.

“She has beauty and brawn,” said Dimitri with a smile. “You see, for every Dark Magician in the graveyard, she gains 300 attack points! And on the subject of Dark Magicians, don’t forget about this one: Dark Magician of Chaos, attack!”

Lucky for Jaden, just the Bubble Blaster was destroyed.

“Now what he started, she’ll finish. Dark Magician Girl! Dark Burning Attack!” said Dimitri with a smirk. The attack lowered Jaden’s life points to 800. “The heart of the cards are indeed powerful, aren’t they Jaden?”

“Alright. So, you got me with a couple good shoots,” said Jaden as he rubbed his nose. “Now it’s my turn!”

“Your turn?”

“Yeah, that’s right!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “To return the favor. And with this card I just drew, I’ll be able to return it and then some!”

“Hmm,” hummed Zane as Avian appeared on the field.

“I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to summon the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! But I’m not done!” said Jaden as he showed a card. “Next I play The Warrior Returning Alive! It lets me bring back a past warrior monster, like Sparkman! And don’t forget Skyscraper’s still out, Which means Flame Wingman gets an extra thousand attack point in battle!”

“But wait. 3,100 attack points, that’s –“ started Dimitri as he was cut off by Jaden.

“Yep! Enough to take out your magician, either one. But since I have a soft spot for the girl because of my girl, we’ll start with him,” said Jaden as his monster destroyed Chaos Magician.

“His girl?” asked Zane as he looked at said girl.

“Shut up,” said Rose with a bush. “I’m not his girl.” ‘ **At least he never asked me.’**

The attack only lowered Dmitri’s life points to 3,700.

“Oh yeah, and I also have Wingman’s super power!” said Jaden. “It causes you to take damage to your life points equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster!”

This lowered Dimitri’s life points to 900.

“Crazy! I’m beatin’ Yugi’s deck!” smiled Jaden as he rubbed his nose.

“And admitting you like Rose,” said Bastion with a smirk causing both Jaden and Rose to blush.

“I wonder if he would still say anything if he knew you were right here?” asked Zane to the blushing girl.

“Shut up!” said Rose as he looked at the duel.

“SHUT UP BASTION!” yelled Jaden with a huge blush. “Anyway, Sparkman, attack! Spark Storm!”

His monster destroyed one of the Kuriboh Tokens.

“Nest, I’ll throw down two face downs and use the spell card Emergency Provisions! Now by sacrificin’ one a’ those face downs, I get back a thousand life points!”

This raised Jaden’s life points up to 1,800.

“Sweet, Dontcha think?”

“You got this Jaden!!” yelled Syrus so that everyone could here.

“You have nothing! My deck is prepared for all contingencies!” said Dimitri as he drew a card. “First, I’ll switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode. Then I’ll activate Spider Web!”

“Huh?” said Jaden as w light came toward him.

“It allows me to take one of the cards you sent to your graveyard last turn and place it directly into my hand! And soon it will go directly into my life points because I choose Emergency Provisions!”

“Shit,” said Jaden.

“Next, I’ll place two cards facedown. Then I’ll activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation! And next, I’ll make three sacrifices, Which lets me play emergency provisions,” said Dimitri as his life points went up to 3,900. “Finally, thanks to Reincarnation, I’ll take back the Kuriboh I just lost! So, did you follow all of that?!”

“Not a word of it!” yelled Syrus confidently, causing his friends, brother, and others watching to sweat drop.

“Well, I did. Sweet moves,” said Jaden to make everyone focus back on the duel as he drew a card. “But they won’t save you from the Flame Wingman! Skydive Scorcher! And don’t forget his super power! You get hit for damage equal to the attack points of The Dark Magician Girl!”

“Ahh!” screamed Dimitri when his life points went down to 1,600. “Good thing I padded my points last turn.”

“Yeah? Well, good thing I have a couple a’ attacks left!” said Jaden a she played a card. “I use the spell card De-Fusion! Now, Flame Wingman, defuse!”

“Good move,” remarked Zane.

“Avian, attack! Talon Tear!” said monster attacked and destroyed a Kuriboh Token. “And now, Burstinatrix! Flare Storm!”

“Go Jaden,” said Rose with a smile.

“Go Sparkman, attack! Spark Storm!”

“Sorry, but you’re forgetting about someone: Kuriboh!”

“What the?”

“By discarding Kuriboh from my hand, I don’t take any damage from Sparkman’s little firework display! Good thing Monster Reincarnation let me bring him back from the graveyard last turn.”

“Oh yeah, my bad,” said Jaden in disappointment.

“Okay, so he might need some help,” said Zane as Dimitri start to talk about Battle City.

“Ya think?” asked Rose sarcastically. **‘Lots of help if you ask me.’**

“Perfect,” said Dimitri as he drew a card. “The heart of the cards has served me again! I remove one dark monster and one light monster from my graveyard.”

“Pause and rewind,” said Jaden as he looked in the shock. “You’re removing them, why Dimitri?”

“You don’t think he has one of those cards?” asked Rose to Zane in shock.

“I don’t know,” said Zane in shock as well.

“Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning!” said Dimitri.

“So, then Yugi really did have that card!” said Jaden in shock. “I always thought it was a rumor.”

“I’m afraid not,” smirked Dimitri as he again started to speak as if he is Yugi.

 **‘I hope this ends soon,’** thought Rose as she looked at the duel. **‘It feels like Black Luster Soldier doesn’t want to be here either.’**

“Luster Blade attack!” said Dimitri as his monster attacked, knocking Jaden’s life points to 800. “That was just the beginning! Now I’ll show you the true power of this card! You see, if the Black Luster Soldier is able to destroy your monster in battle, he’s allowed to attack again!”

“No way!” cried Jaden.

“And now! Black Luster Soldier, end this! It’s over!”

“Not yet!” cried Jaden. “I played the card Hero Spirit!”

“What’s this?!”

“it’s not the end of the duel cuz if a hero is destroyed and I play Hero Spirit, I can turn all the damage received from your monster to zero!”

“Fine, then,” said Dimitri in annoyance. “I’ll just finish you off next turn. The heart of the card will see to that!”

“Is that Winged Kuriboh?” mumbled Rose as she watched the duel spirit try to encourage Jaden.

“Ha!” yelled Jaden as he drew a card. “Sorry, Dimitri, but I believe!”

“What?” asked Dimitri in confusion.

“I activate Silent Doom!” said Jaden in confidence. “This very handy spell card allows me to summon from my graveyard in defense mode! So, come on back, Avian! Next, I’ll play this: it’s called Double Spell! Now by discardin’ one spell card from my hand, I can use one spell card from my opponent’s graveyard! If ya need more info, just look in the official rule book under the heading, ‘How’d I lose?’”

“Yes! He’s got a plan!” said Rose with a smile.

“So, I’ll discard this and help myself to you Polymerization!” said Jaden as the card appeared on his side. “Now I’ll fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to create my deck’s headliner one more time: The Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! And since my Skyscraper field card is still out, he gains an extra 1,000 attack points! Now, Flame Wingman! Attack Black Luster Soldier with Skydive Scorcher!”

“He’s gone! My Luster Soldier’s gone!” screamed Dimitri in shock as his life points went down to 1,500.

“Don’t sweat it, he was never yours to begin with,” said Jaden in annoyance. “Besides, if yaw anna worry about somethin’, worry about Wingman’s super power!”

“AHH!” yelled Dimitri as his life points went down to zero.

“Why can’t I ever win?” cried Dimitri.

                “The answer to that is obvious,” said Zane as he and Rose walked around the corner.

                “Hey, you’re Zane.”

                “Big bro?” said Syrus in shock.

                “What are you guys doing here?” asked Jaden **. ‘More like what are you two doing together?’**

                “Why else? To see the deck, but it was gone,” said Zane.

                “We snuck into the event hall and saw Crowler freaking out, he told us what happened,” said Rose.

                “Which lead us here. We found you a while ago but didn’t want to interrupt the duel.”

                “How kind of you,” said Bastion with a laugh.

                “Wait then, you saw it all?” question Jaden as he stared at the two with a blush on his face. “Me and Dimitri? The whole thing?”

                “Not just us. Your match attracted quite a bit of attention,” said Zane with a smile as he and Rose turned around to look at everyone who was watching.

                “Uh, Hi! Glad you all could make it,” said Jaden as he looked at everyone. **‘Shit, everyone heard me saying that Rose is cute. Or maybe it’s a good thing.’**

                “What now?” asked Dimitri.

                “Well, kid. The punishment for stealing has always been crystal clear – Straight up expulsion. But still, since I think everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi’s deck in a duel instead of in a display case, I doubt anyone will turn you in,” said Zane with a smirk.

                “What difference does it make? I lost.”

                “You didn’t lose. The person you were pretending to be did,” said Jaden as he tried to explain it to Dimitri.

                “He’s confusing himself, isn’t he,” said Rose with a giggle.

                “Yeah,” said Zane with a chuckle.

                “Should you help or should I.”

                “Let me attempt to interpret for him, Dimitri,” said Zane out load. “You’ll never win or lose until you put yourself out there, and that means creating your own deck and your own strategies. Not piggy-backing off of someone else’s. After all, there is no amount of studying you can do to be able to use someone else’s deck as well as they can.”

                “Yeah! What Zane said, that’s exactly what I meant!” said Jaden with a smile. “Just ‘cuz I beat you doesn’t mean I can beat Yugi. So, let’s go put the deck pack.”

                “Yeah, okay,” said Dimitri.

**_~The Next Day~_ **

                “So now Dimitri is acting like Jaden,” said Zane as he held a bag with a poster of Dark Magician Girl and Light Magician Girl as well as a plushie of Kuriboh. **‘I’m not all the surprised that she got the biggest plushie they had. I guess it’s a good thing that Bastion offered to pay half.’**

                “I don’t know if I should be scared or not,” said Rose with a sweat drop as the two watch Jaden try to correct Dimitri.

                “I wonder how he’s able to make such quick outfit changes.”

                “That’s a good question,” said Rose as she looked at him. “Well, I better go and make sure they stop.”

                “Good luck with that,” said Zane as he saw Rose walk to Jaden and Dimitri, only to hit them both. **‘Let’s hope Jaden and handle you.’**


	12. The Duel Off!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 21 -22

                “For real?” asked Jaden as he pointed to himself.

                “That’s right. You will duel Bastion, and the victor will represent Duel Academy in the school duel against North Academy,” said Professor Banner. Jaden just turned to smile at Bastion. “I look forward to an exciting match!!”

                **‘Being that its Jaden, I know it will be,’** thought Rose to herself.

**_~The Day of the Duel ~_ **

                “It’s time, duelist, to find out who will represent our most illustrious academy in the annual school duel!” said Crowler as he stood in the middle of the arena.

                “Introducing first, from the Ra dorms, Bastion Misawa!” introduced Crowler as Bastion stood to his right. Everyone cheered.

                “And then from Slifer, some kid,” said Crowler as he was forced to introduce Jaden. No one cheered except for Syrus and Chumley.

                **‘Its funny since they were all cheering him when he and Syrus went against the Paradox brothers,’** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

                “It’ll be instinct versus intelligence here,” said Zane as he came to stand next to Rose and Alexis.

                “I guess, who cares,” said Alexis, shocking the other two.

                “Alexis?” said Rose.

                “I mean, yeah!” said Alexis, trying to fake happiness. Zane and Rose just looked at each other.

                “Now! Without any further ado!” said Crowler.

                “Get your game on!” said Jaden.

                “Let’s duel!” said the two boys.

                **‘I wonder what’s wrong with Alexis,’** thought Rose as she looked at her friend. **‘Zane obviously doesn’t know, so what happened.’**

                “Alright! First move,” said Bastion as he drew a card. “I summon Carboneddon in defense mode! That’s all for now.”

                “A brand-new deck, and Carboneddon is all you can bust out?” asked Jaden with a smile. “Whatever works for ya!”

                “Don’t get overconfident,” said Rose as she watched.

“Now,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “I play Burstinatrix in attack mode!”

“Off to a good start there,” said Bastion.

“Yeah, sure am! And I got news for ya, it only gets better! Burstinatrix, attack! Nest I’ll throw down a face-down and call it a turn.”

“You don’t waste any time. I like that,” said Bastion as he drew a card. “I’m going to summon Oxygeddon in attack mode! And now, Oxygeddon, attack!”

“Think again! I got a trap,” said Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. “Hero Barrier! With this card, if I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can negate your monster’s attack once! Sorry Bastion, but Burstinatrix isn’t busted just yet!”

“Well-played, Jaden. Put of course, I’d expect no less. I’ll go ahead and place this face down. And that’s all.”

“Alright then. I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!” said Jaden as said monster appeared. “And I activate the equip spell Spark Blaster and equip it on Sparkman! Now I can change the battle mode of any monster on the field and the one I have set in Sparkman’s sights is Oxygeddon! Now he has to switch into defense mode! And now Burstinatrix can take him out! Go Magma Comet!”

“Whoops! Looks like someone has forgotten their chemistry, no?” said Bastion with a smirk. “See, fire and oxygen, they don’t mix Jaden. So, when Oxygeddon is destroyed in battle by a pyro-type monster, it doesn’t just take a toll on my life points, but on yours as well!”

“Sweet move,” said Jaden as both his and Bastion’s life points went down to 3,200. “Your monster’s ability cost us both there! But I’d do it all over again, know why? ‘Cause now your field is empty, which means my Sparkman can attack you directly!

“Hey Zane,” asked Rose.

                “Yeah,” said Zane as he looked at the shorter girl.

                “I was wondering, I know you went to some meeting where they were going to pick the duelist, but who picked who? Could you guys not decide?”

                “I nominated Jaden, Crowler nominated Bastion.”

                “Ahh! That explains why he’s freaking out down there,” said Rose as she looked toward Dr. Crowler, causing the other two to look. Jaden had reduced Bastion’s life points to just 1,600.

                “It can’t be helped,” said Zane after he sighed.

                “You’d think he’d learn by now,” said Alexis with a sweat drop.

                “To much makeup is effecting his thinking process,” said Rose in a serious voice, causing the other two to chuckle.

                “hey, sorry there Bastion,” said Jaden with a smile. “Guess it’s back to the drawing board if you wanna beat my deck!”

                “No, Jaden, I think not. You see, I’ve already beaten it. Now, it’s simply a matter of showing all of my work. Now then, let’s get back into the fray, shall we?

                “It’s my turn,” said Bastion as he drew a card. “And I’m going to summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode! Now, Hydrogeddon, attack Burstinatrix!”

                This lowered Jaden’s life points to 2,800.

                “Next I’ll activate Hydrogeddon’s ability!” said Bastion with a smirk. “You see, whenever he destroys a monster in battle, it allows me to summon another Hydrogeddon. And I happen to have one right here in my deck! And now I’ll play an equip spell from my hand Living Fossil! I can now summon one monster from my graveyard so long as I equip it with this. And the monster I’ll bring back is Oxygeddon! Rise again old friend!

                “Of course, Fossil lowers his attack points and cancels his special ability, but it’s worth it.”

                “Already?” asked Rose as she had an idea of what Bastion was going to summon.

                “Now it gets good,” said Bastion with a smirk. “I activate the spell card: Bonding H2O! See Jaden, when I bond two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon, they do the exact same thing that two-hydrogen bonded with one oxygen do. They become water, or in this case, the all-powerful Water Dragon!”

                “That’s not good,” said Jaden.

                “Now he looks a little too happy,” commented Zane about Crowler.

                “It’s really creepy,” said Alexis.

                “How do they allow him around children?” asked Rose.

                “I’ve been asking myself that since I started going here,” said Zane, shocking the two girls.

                **‘That’s bad,’** thought both girls.

                “It’s your move now, Jaden,” said Bastion.

                “Well, Bastion, it’s like they always say, when the goin’ gets tough, the tough get goin’!” said Jaden as he drew a card. “So here I go! Sweet! Alright, you got one of your best monsters out, so allow me to summon on up one of mine! Now I may not know as much chemistry as you do, but I can still mix it up. Avian and Bubbleman, get ready to merge with Sparkman to create the one and only Elemental Hero Tempest! Alrightie. Fuse!”

                “I don’t think so, Jaden,” said Bastion with a smirk. “Go! Trap card, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! Now, by discarding one spell card from my hand, I can negate your spell card and destroy it! And you can no longer use the card that was destroyed by this effect for the remainder of the duel.”

                “Wait! I can’t use Polymerization anymore?” asked Jaden in shock.

                “I’m afraid not, which essentially means you can’t use any of your fusion monsters anymore, either. No Flame Wingman, no Thunder Giant, none of them,” said Bastion as he smirked. “Compute it any which way you like, but the answer will always come out the same. This duel’s over. You can’t win.”

                Jaden simply played Avian in defense mode.

                “Face it Jaden, with your fusion monsters neutralized and my Water Dragon about to strike, you and your monsters are about to be all washed up!

                “No way, Bastion got rid of polymerization,” said Alexis in shock.

                “Let’s see how Jaden measures up,” said Zane as he looked at the duel, only to sigh.

                “He’s creeping me out,” said Rose as she looked at what Zane sighed about.

                “Just ignore him, that’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve started here,” said Zane.

                **‘Come on, Jaden,’** thought Rose.

                “Fight back,” said Alexis.

                “Well, perhaps we underestimated Bastion,” said Zane with a smile. “He’s been playing this like a pro. After all, with just one card, he’s all but disarmed Jaden’s deck.

                “Come on, he’s just taken away Jaden’s ability to use fusion monsters, that’s all,” said Alexis aggressively.

                “But that’s how Jaden wins all his duels,” said Rose.

                “My go! And I’m gonna switch Sparkman to defense mode! And I’ll leave it at that,” said Jaden.

                “Not much to do when you’ve been stripped of the ability to use your favorite monsters, eh, Jaden?” asked Bastion with a smug look.

                “Wrong! There’s loads to do,” said Jaden with a smile. “Like findin’ a new plan. It’ll be tough, but I’m up for it! And then, Bastion, it’ll be all the sweeter when I win!”

                “Yes, when you win. Well, we have nothing if not our dreams, I suppose, however farfetched, Now then, let’s get on with this duel, shall we Jaden?” said Bastion as he drew a card.

                “Jaden is definitely confident,” said Zane with a smirk.

                “He’s got a plan,” said Alexis.

                “More like he’s going to wing it till he has something,” laughed Rose with a fond smile.

                “I play the Mathematician in attack mode,” said Bastion as he played his card.

                “Well, I’m not surprised,” giggled Rose.

                “That’s his duel spirt, for sure,” said Alexis as she giggled.

                “You see, when this is summoned, I must send one card from my deck to the grave,” said Bastion. “But then, if Mathematician happens to be destroyed in battle I can take a card from my deck and add it to my hand. Of course, none of that is very pressing right this moment, what with my Water Dragon about to surge into action!”

                Sparkman was attacked and destroyed, leaving Jaden with one monster.

                “And now, Mathematician attacks your hero Avian! Number Cruncher!”

                “Jaden,” said Rose as she looked on.

                “Well, my turn’s done, Jaden. So,” said Bastion with a smirk, “if you still plan on beating me feel free to go ahead and do your worst.”

                “You bet I will!” said Jaden with a smile. “Cuz my duel’s just starting!”

                “Is it?”

                “Yep. Ya see, we’re different! You make all your moves at home! I do mine on the field!”

                “Hmm,” hummed Alexis.

“Alright, where were we?” said Jaden as he drew a card. “First, I’m gonna summon Hero Bubbleman in attack mode! Now when I summon Bubbleman, if I have no other cards out, that’s a good thing! Know why? Cuz it means I can draw two cards! And one of ‘em I’ll play right now! The equip spell Bubble Blaster! This lets Bubbleman gain 800 attack points! And now, Bubbleman attack!”

This attack brought down Bastion’s life points to 1,500.

“Well played, but since you destroyed Mathematician, his ability activates allowing me to draw one card,” said Bastion as he drew a card.

“Yeah, yeah, but it’s still my turn, and I’m gonna throw down two face downs! Next, I’m gonna play the spell card Mirage of Nightmare! And then I’ll call it a turn! See, I’m no one trick pony! Ya take away my fusion monsters, and, well, I’’’ just come right back at ya with somethin’ else! Cuz, it’s not about the fusion’, Bastion, it’s about the monster, and mine are still rarin’ to go!”

“I’m sure,” said Bastion with his eyes closed. “But the fact of the matter is, Jaden, your most powerful monsters are not. When will you accept that dueling is nothing more than a numbers game? A number game that I have calculated effectively, and you have not. Your defeat is imminent, Jaden. Now, my draw!”

“And with it, the effect a’ my spell Mirage of Nightmare activates!” called out Jaden. “Cuz a’ this card’s effect, durin’ your standby phase, I’m allowed to draw and keep drawin’ till I have four cards! And now I’ll reveal my facedown card! Emergency Provisions! Now, allow me to explain how it works, Bastion. By sending one spell or trap on my field to the grave I gain a thousand life points. So, adios Mirage of Nightmare!

                “Do you think Jaden can make it?” asked Zane.

                “Looks like he might,” said Rose as Jaden’s life points went up to 3,800.

                “Quite impressive,” said Zane after watching Jaden. “He switched his strategy and is still playing well.”

                “Yeah, but can he keep it up?” asked Alexis as she leaned on the railing.

                “You’re simply postponing the inevitable, you’re deck’s a problem that’s already been solved,” said Bastion.

                “You’re wrong!” cried Jaden.

                “Perhaps this will convince you then, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed from my hand! Due to its effect, I draw two cards. Furthermore, there are now ten cards stacked above Carboneddon in the graveyard. But he can handle the pressure, in fact, he thrives on it. Because now, due to the immense gravitational force on Carboneddon, he changes into diamond! And that lets me activate his special effect! By removing this card from play, I can now summon Hyozanryu, The Dimond Dragon!

                “Now, Hyozanryu attack Bubbleman! Diamond Devastator!”

                “Whoopsie Bastion, when a monster with Bubble Blaster is beaten in battle, it’s the blaster that gets destroyed not the monster,” said Jaden.

                “But now that your blaster’s gone, what will protect him from The Water Dragon?!” said Bastion with a smirk. “Tidal Blast!”

                The attack knocked Jaden’s life points to 1,800.

                “Go trap card!” said Jaden as he protected himself. “Hero Signal! This activates when one of my monsters is destroyed! Now, Bastion, I can summon a monster with elemental hero in its name from my deck or from my hand! And I choose Elemental Hero Clayman!”

                “My, you just won’t give up, will you, Jaden?” said Bastion with a smile. “You certainly are one stubborn duelist.”

                “Thanks, Bastion,” replied Jaden with a smile. “At least, I think that, that was a compliment.”

                “I’ll end my turn with a face down,” said Bastion as he put a card facedown.

                “Here goes!” said Jaden a she drew a card. “I activate the spell The Warrior Returning Alive! With this card’s effect, I can take one warrior-type monster from my grave and add it straight to my hand. And I’ll pick Bubbleman and summon him to the field! Then I activate the spell card: Bubble Shuffle! With this, I can change Bubbleman and one of your monsters from attack mode to defense mode!

                “Oh, and then if I sacrifice Bubbleman while he’s in defense mode? I’m allowed to summon any monster with Elemental Hero in its name from my hand. And guess what, Bastion?! That’s exactly what I’m gonna do! Bubbleman, move over from Elemental Hero Bladedge!”

                “Those fusion monsters may be Jaden’s best,” started Zane as he looked at the monster Jaden has summoned, “but that thing is a close second.”

                “And this should be a close matchup!” said Rose in excitement. **‘You’ve got this Jaden.’**

                “Field spell Skyscraper!” said Jaden as he played the card. “Now when a monster with Elemental Hero in its name battles if it has less attack points than your monster it gains a thousand attack points. So, go, Bladedge! Attack Water Dragon with Slice and Dice attack!! “

                Bladedge attack Water Dragon, much to a lot of people’s shock.

                “Now Bladedge’s ability activates! See, if he attacks a monster in defense mode and has more attack points than your monster’s defense points, well then, the difference is dealt directly to you as damage!” said Jaden.

                “He got Bastion’s life points down to 500!” said Alexis.

                “Don’t rule Bastion out yet,” said Zane.

                “Well, my dragon has a special ability, too,” said Bastion as he glared at Jaden. “For you see, Jaden, when Water Dragon’s destroyed, I can summon one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddons from my graveyard! Next, I activate a trap card! Last Magnet! This activates whenever one of my Monsters is destroyed. Then, it equips onto the monster that was responsible for the destruction and causes it to lose 800 attack points!”

                “Yeah, well Clayman can still clobber at peak performance!” yelled Jaden, “’Specially with Skyscraper still out on the field! Now, attack Oxygeddon with Clay Clobberer!”

                “Good show, Jaden,” said Bastion with a smirk as he got ready to grab a card.

                “I do what I can,” said Jaden with a smirk of his own.

                “Alright, it’s my turn,” Bastion said as he drew a card. “From my hand, I activate the spell Litmus Doom Ritual! Now, from my field and hand, I must sacrifice a total of eight stars worth of monsters, and then I can summon Litmus Doom Swordsman!”

                “Hmm,” hummed Rose as she watched **‘What is he up to?’**

                “Doom Swordsman isn’t affected by traps nor can he be destroyed in battle. Essentially, he’s invincible. Also, when there happens to be a trap card out on the field, just as Last Magnet is right now, his attack and defense points become 3,000!”

                “Shit,” said Jaden.

                “So now, Litmus Doom Swordsman give Blade Edge a taste of your steel! Said Bastion as his monster attacked, knocking Jaden’s life points to 1,600.

                “Well done, now, Hyozanryu, make me just as proud and attack Clayman! Diamond Devastator!”

                Everyone watched as Jaden’s life points went down to 1,300.

                “There’s more,” said Bastion as he grabbed a card from his hand, “next, I play from my hand, the mighty spell card: A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon! Now, by returning one level five or above dragon type monster on my field back to my hand, all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed! Which means Skyscraper is now demolished! Finally, I’ll end with a face down.”

                “He took out Skyscraper,” said Rose in shock. “He really planned for everything.”

                “I thought you were friends with him, wouldn’t you know that?” asked Alexis.

                “Yeah, but I wasn’t there for his planning of Jaden. It’s amazing what he’s come up with!” said Rose in aww.

                “Well I’ll tell you Bastion, I don’t think I’ve ever had a more fun duel!” said Jaden with excitement.

                “Glad you think so!” yelled Syrus in response.

                “Look! There’s Syrus and Chumley!” said Rose with a smile, causing Alexis to laugh and Zane to chuckle.

                “I’ve enjoyed it as well, Jaden, and will continue to,” said Bastion. “Especially when I beat you!”

                “Actually, I’m ending this now,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “Sweetness, I’m gonna summon a new Elemental Hero! And here he is: Elemental Hero Wildheart!”

                “New one?” said Bastion with a smirk, “Well, he won’t make mush of an impression! I’m activating a trap! Spirit Barrier! Now, as long as I have a monster on the field, Spirit Barrier will change any battle damage to zero!”

                “Nuh-uh! Traps don’t work on Wildheart!” said Jaden, sounding like a child.

                “Is that so? Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that they still work on my Swordsman then. Remember, when a trap card is out, his attack points go up.”

                “Not good,” said Syrus.

                “Nah, it’s all good,” said Jaden with a smile, “cuz I play Cyclone Boomerang! And I’ll equip this spell card on Wildheart, raising his attack points by 500!”

                “So, what, he’s still short a thousand,” said Syrus in despair.

                “What gives?” asked Chumley.

                “You’ll see what gives when this boomerang makes its return trip!” said Jaden as his monster attacked, only for it not to work and his monster was destroyed, bring his life points to 300. “Perfect, now I play Bomerang’s effect! See, when this card and the monster equipped with it are sent to the graveyard, all spell and trap cards are automatically destroyed. And then, for everyone destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!”

                “He won!” said Rose with a smile.

                “I guess when it comes to Jaden Yuki, Bastion miscalculated,” said Zane as he walked away.

                “I guess, or maybe some strategies you just can’t calculate,” said Alexis.

                “Or more like Jaden is full of surprises,” laughed Rose as she started to walk toward the stage.

                “And the winner is Jaden Yuki!” said Chancaler Shepard, “Well done! You will be Duel Academy’s representative at the school duel.”

                “Way to play, Jay,” said Syrus as he and Chumley got to the field.

                “Good job,” said Chumley.

                “Indeed,” said Bastion as he walked to Jaden, Rose next to him as she had made it to the field. “You beat me fair and square, Jaden. Rather, you beat this deck, but you can be assured that there will be another.”

                “And another duel I hope!” said Jaden with a smile as the two shock hands.

                “Good job Jaden,” said Rose as she walked to stand next to Jaden.

                “Thanks Rose,” said Jaden as he smiled at her. She smiled at him and then kissed his cheek. Jaden went red while the other three laughed and the audience cheered.

                “Alright, School duel, get your game on, ‘cuz here I come!” yelled Jaden as everyone cheered.


	13. The School Duel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 25 – 26

                “Can someone please explain to me why there is a film crew here?” asked Alexis as she and Rose walked up to Zane.

                “Apparently Chazz is Jaden’s opponent and his brothers decided to broadcast the whole thing,” said Zane.

                “Why am I not surprised after find that out,” said Rose as the three walked into the stadium to find their seats.

                “Big bro! Alexis! Rose!” said Syrus once he saw the three. They walked up to him and took the seats that he was near.

Bastion, Rose, and Syrus sat in one row while Alexis, Chumley, and Zane sat in the row above them. Syrus sat at the end of the row, next to the stairs. Rose sat on his right and Bastion was to her right. Chumley sat behind Bastion, Zane behind Rose, and Alexis behind Syrus.

                “Attention students!” said Sheppard, “Welcome to the school duel!”

                “And now,” said Foster.

                “Let this year’s competition finally begin!” said the two together.

                “Dr. Crowler, introduce the duelist,” said Sheppard.

                “With pleasure Chancellor Sheppard,” said Crowler into his microphone. “After all, these are two duelist that I know personally! And personally, I just adore them!

                “Now first, from Duel Academy,” he said, causing the Duel Academy students to cheer. “All right, keep it down, keep it down. Jaden Yucky! What’s that? Oh, yes. Yooki. Yooki.”

                “He can’t even get his name right,” said Rose with a sweat drop.

                “It should be expected,” said Bastion.

                “Go Jay, you can do it!” said Syrus.

                “And his opponent,” said Crowler, only to be interrupted.

                “Get off the stage,” said Chazz. “I’ll introduce myself, you scrub.”

                “I beg your pardon!” yelled Crowler into the mic as he somehow managed to tie himself up with the wire from the mic.

                “I don’t really need an introduction,” said Chazz as he looked around, “after all, everyone here knows who I am.”

                Chazz then went to talk about how he had changed and got North Academy to cheer “Chazz it up.”

                “Wow. It’s like they really like Chazz,” said Syrus in shock.

                “I’m more shock that he made his own catch phrase and people are actually using it,” said Rose.

                “Duel!” said the two boys to start the duel.

                “Let’s see how this duel goes,” said Zane as both Chazz and Jaden brought out their first monsters on their first terns.

                “alright, Jaden’s taken the lead!” said Syrus after Jaden attacked Chazz’s monster.

                “Nuh-uh, he’s taken the bait!” said Chazz.

                “Oh-oh,” said Jaden.

                “I activate my Masked Dragon’s special ability!” said Chazz. “You see, when this card is sent to the graveyard due to battle, I can summon a dragon type monster with 1,500 or fewer attack points from my deck. And I have just the one! Go ahead and see for yourself! Come out, Armed Dragon Level 3!”

                “Level?” said Syrus in shock.

                “Yeah, and three is the lowest,” said Alexis.

                “If Chazz plays this right, the dragon will get a lot bigger,” said Rose.

                “indeed,” said Bastion. “I just wonder where Chazz ever got such a powerful card.”

                “And it looks like he knows how to play it,” said Rose as Chazz got the level 5 monster.

                “Be careful Jaden!” yelled Bastion. “By leveling up, Armed Dragon’s power has substantially increased, and he was plenty powerful before!”

                “Aw, man,” said Syrus.

                “At least this time Bastion is not being negative,” said Rose with a giggle.

                “I know,” giggled Alexis.

                “I wasn’t that bad,” said Bastion as he looked at them.

                “Yes you were,” said the two girls.

                “Wow, Chazz. That thing’s pretty sweet! But then, so’s my trap!” said Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. “Hero Ring! And I’ll equip it to Burstinatrix! Now monsters with 1,900 or more attack points can’t attack! Them’s the breaks!”

                “You want breaks?” laughed Chazz, “I’ll give you breaks, Jaden, because even with that Hero Ring shield out, my Armed Dragon Level 5 is going to crush your creature!”

                “How?”

                “Armed Dragon’s special ability, that’s how!” said Chazz. “You see, by discarding a monster to the grave, I can destroy a monster of yours whose attack points are equal or less than the one I tossed!”

                “Wait, so,” said Jaden in shock.

                “So, if Flying Kamakiri 1 goes to the graveyard. . .” started Chazz.

                “Then Jaden’s Burstinatrix will be in big-time trouble!” finished Syrus.

                “She has less attack points!” said Chumley.

                “I’m sorry Burst,” said Jaden. “My bad.”

                “Go, Armed Dragon Level 5! Shrapnel Blast!” yelled Chazz. “And that was just his special ability! Ahh! Now time for his direct attack! Inferno Roar!”

                “Jaden,” said Rose as Jaden’s life points went down to 1,600 and he flew across the arena.

                “Heh heh! So that’s Duel Academy’s best, huh?” laughed Chazz.

                “Nice shot!” said Jaden as he jumped up onto his feet. “Although, I gotta say, I think for the next TV broadcast, I’d love to arrange to have a stunt man.”

                “Whatever. I’m placing one card facedown and ending my turn,” said Chazz.

                “My go! Ha!” said Jaden as he drew his card. “You’re in trouble now! I play elemental hero Bubbleman in attack mode! And when Bubbleman is summoned, if there are no other cards out on my field, like right now, I’m allowed to draw two more cards! And now I’ll use one of them, Polymerization, to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Sparkman with Bubbleman to create, wait for it, Elemental Hero Tempest!”

                “Alright! You got him now Jay!” yelled Syrus.

                “With Fly Boy there?” asked Chazz.

                “You better believe it!” said Jaden. “And he gives a new definition to the term air power! Glider Strike! “

                “Thanks for that,” said Chaz as Jaden destroyed his monster and brought down his life points to 3,600. “It lets me play my trap: Call of the Haunted!”

                “Uh-oh.”

                “Not that one!” said Syrus.

                “Do you believe in ghosts? Well, you’re about to because this card lets me summon back any monster I want from my graveyard, and I bet you can guess which one I’m going to pick. Armed Dragon Level 5, Rise!”

                “Chazz it up!” yelled the North Academy students.

                “Well, I guess I’ll just throw down a facedown and hope for the best,” said Jaden as he ended his turn.

                “Now!” yelled Chazz as he drew a card. “I’m using Armed Dragons special ability. I’m discarding Despair From The Dark from my hand to the graveyard. And since it has 2,800 attack points, your bird man’s headed to the pet cemetery! Now, Armed Dragon destroy Hero Tempest with Shrapnel Blast!”

                “I activate the spell Diffusion!” yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. “Quick, defuse Tempest!”

                “Talk about close!” said Syrus.

                “I know. He barely saved his monsters!” said Chumley.

                **‘Good job Jaden,’** thought Rose with a smile.

                “Whatever, my Armed Dragon still has his attack to use! And now, I’m going to use it!” said Chazz. “Go, Inferno Roar!”

                “Come on Jaden,” said Rose as one of his monsters was destroyed.

                “And now to take this duel to the next level, Jaden,” laughed Chazz. “To the highest level.”

                “What?” said Jaden.

                “It’s time to upgrade my Armed Dragon Level 5 to level 7! Now, won’t you join me, Jaden, in welcoming the ultimate and the all-powerful: the Level 7-Armed Dragon!”

                “Chazz it up!” repeated the North Academy students.

                “Somebody shut them up!” yelled Rose in anger.

                “Calm down,” said Zane as he put his hands on her shoulders to keep her in her seat.

                “Ok, so he’s big. But who knows? I mean, he could be friendly,” said Jaden in hope.

                “Aw, what wrong?” chuckled Chazz. “You’re not so talkative anymore? You don’t have anything to say, Jaden?”

                “Yeah, I do!” said Jaden in happiness. “I gotta get me one of those! He’s so cool. Trade for him!?”

                “No, I won’t trade him! What’s wrong with you!?” asked Chazz in annoyance. “You should be scared of him, not admiring him!”

                “But how can I not? He’s an incredible monster, and this has been an incredible duel. How can anyone not be excited?!” said Jaden as he jumped around from foot to foot. “I mean, this is as good as it gets! I’m stocked! This is what dueling’s all about! Thanks Chazz!”

                “Thanks!? You’re pitiful, Jaden,” said Chazz in anger. “Jumping up and down like some fool, never taking anything serious, that’s why you’ll never be a champion. You see, it takes discipline to win. You need to have a sense of duty. You need to have some kind of plan! And I have a plan and I have a sense of duty, and that’s why I’m going to beat you, Jaden. That’s why I’ll beat anyone in my way! I can conquer anyone! You got that!? I’m going to conquer the whole world!”

                “I think he’s stressed,” said Syrus.

                “Big time,” replied Rose **. ‘I wonder what has him so worked up.’**

                “Ok, well,” said Jaden awkwardly. “If you don’t mind, can I take my turn first?”

                “Make it quick!” yelled Chazz.

                “Chill!” replied Jaden as he drew a card. “Alright, I’ll call up Wroughtweiler in defense mode! And I’ll throw down a facedown. How’s that for quick?”

                “Not bad! But downright sluggish compared to how quick my dragon’s going to take out all your monsters! Watch this!” said Chazz as he discarded a card. “I’m using my Armed Dragon’s special ability! Now, by discarding a monster from my had, I can destroy all monsters you have out with equal or fewer attack points!”

                “That’s not good.”

                “Damn, that’ll leave Jaden wide open!” said Rose.

                “That is one impressive special power,” said Zane.

                “I discard Armed Dragon Level 3 to the graveyard, so all your monsters with 1,200 or less attack points will be completely wiped out! Go! Serrated Sonic Discs! Destroy!”

                “Jaden, no!” said Syrus in shock. As everyone else looked at the duel in shock.

                “Well, before Wroughtweiler goes belly up, his special ability gets to activate!” said Jaden in a determined voice. “One, that lets me bring Polymerization and an Elemental Hero to my hand.”

                “As if it’ll matter, you Duel Academy stooge!” insulted Chazz. “It’s time for you to go bye-bye! Level 7-Armed Dragon, attack Jaden directly with Dragon Talon Terror!”

                “Jaden!” yelled Syrus.

                “Come on Jaden!” yelled Rose.

                “Not so fast there, Chazz!” said Jaden. “I played a trap! Hero Spirit!”

                “What the, how did,” asked Chazz, confused that his attack didn’t do anything.

                “Didn’t you know, Chazz? When Hero Spirit’s out, if a hero’s destroyed, all damage goes to zero, zilch, zip, nada!”

                “Congratulations, you can use a thesaurus,” said Chazz condescendingly, “but it’ll take a lot more than words to beat my Armed Dragon! And a lot more than any pathetic monster you have! Face it, Jaden. You’re toast!”

                “Gotta get something started,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode! That will do for now.”

                “Why’d you bring him out, Jaden? You planning to dust around here or something?” laughed Chazz, causing Kuriboh to become angered.

                “They have feelings,” mumbled Rose as Bastion patted her leg.

                “That they do,” Bastion said to comfort her.

                “What? Did I hurt his widdle feelings?” asked Chazz as his duel spirit appeared and he started freaking out.

                “Is Chazz going crazy?” asked Syrus.

                “No, he’s just having problems with his duel spirt,” said Rose as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

                “Duel spirit?” asked the others.

                “Rose, you can see them?” asked Zane.

“Yup, and from my guess, so can Chazz and Jaden.”

                ”I’m lost,” said Chumley.

                “Some people poses the ability to see duel spirits even if they aren’t played. They have a special connection to them,” replied Zane.

                “That’s very interesting,” said Bastion as he looked at the duel.

                “it’s my turn,” said Chazz as he drew a card, “and your Kuriboh’s turn to get blasted! Armed Level 7 Dragon, attack with Dragon Talon Terror! And I’ll leave it at that.”

                “Wait, why didn’t Chazz use his Armed Dragon’s special ability?” asked Syrus.

                “Because Kuriboh’s would cancel it out,” explained Bastion. “The turn in which he’s destroyed, Jaden takes no damage.”

                “My go now,” said Jaden as he drew a card. “And I activate the spell card Pot of Greed!”

                “You better have a plan, Jaden,” said Rose as she looked at Jaden draw his two cards.

                “Alright! Just the card I need to turn this duel around! And around! And around!”

                “Say what?” asked Chazz.

                “Here, see for yourself!” said Jaden as he played one of the cards he drew. “Go! Special Hurricane!”

                “What the-“

                “That’s right! By discarding one card from my hand, I can use this spell card and destroy any monster on the field that was special summoned!” said Jaden as his spell destroyed Armored Dragon.

                “No way, it can’t be,” said Chazz in disbelief.

                “Oh, it be alright! And now you be in some big-time trouble! Because your best monster is off the field, and you’re all alone on it!”

                “So licious!” said Chumley with a smile. “Totally what I’d have done. Ya know, if I had those cards and if Jaden were walking me through it step by step.”

                “That’s all?” asked Bastion. “Maybe he should hold your hand as well.”

                “Way to play!” said Syrus with a smile. “Now follow through and take it to Chazz’s life points, Jay!”

                “You go it Sy!” replied Jaden. “I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart! And now, Chazz, you’re in for some heartbreak!”

                “What?” asked Rose as Jaden made no sense.

                “Uh, actually, that doesn’t make any sense,” he said causing the others to sweat drop. “Uhh, just attack.”

                “Yes,” said Rose as Chazz’s life points went down to 2,100.

                “Chazz, get up!” yelled Foster as his students soon followed.

                “It’s. . . my. . . turn.” Said Chazz as he started to get up. “I play, a spell card: Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension! This baby lets me take two monsters from my graveyard and shuffle them right into my deck! Sure, they have to be a special kind of monster, but it’s just the kind that I need: my Armed Dragons! Oh, and, I happen to have another one in my hand as well! I summon The Armed Dragon Level 3!”

                “Chazz it up! Chazz it up!” chanted the North Academy students.

                “Yeah, and now Jaden’s about to be washed up.”

                “Oh, Jaden,” said Alexis in concern.

                “I’m trying!” yelled Chazz.

                “Uh, trying what? To weird me out?” asked Jaden. “Hello?! Earth to Chazz.”

                “Jaden! Come on buddy! You’ve gotta turn this duel around!” yelled Syrus. “You’ve gotta show everyone what’s up, Jay!”

                “Come on Jaden!” yelled Rose.

                “Alright try cheering this! Wildheart, attack that armed Dragon! Wild Slash!”

                “Thanks for that! Now I can play my trap!” said Chazz as he revealed his facedown card. “It’s called The Grave of Enkindling! And since a monster was destroyed in battle, it lets us both take a monster from our graveyard and summon it to the field in defense mode! And I choose another Armed Dragon and he’s Level 5!”

                “Grave of Enkinfling made that way too easy,” complained Syrus. “It’s practically unfair. Isn’t there any drawback to using it?”

                “If I recall correctly,” started Bastion causing his friends to look at him, “By rule the resurrected monster must remain in defense mode. Of course, that’s really a moot point. After all, with Level 5’s special ability, by discarding a monster from his hand to the graveyard, Chazz can destroy one of Jaden’s monsters whose attack points are less or equal to the monster Chazz discarded.”

                “Damn, I really hope Jaden has some sort of plan,” said Rose as she turned back to watch the duel.

                “Well? What are you waiting for?!” complained Chazz. “Resurrect. Take a monster out of your graveyard. But let me tell you, it’s going to be a round trip!”

                “Monster? Sorry, but I think you mean monsters!” declared Jaden.

                “Please. What are you talking about? That Grave of Enkindling only lets you bring one monster back.”

                “What’s he planning?” asked Bastion as the other stared in shock.

                “I bring back Hero Kid from the graveyard!” said Jaden as he got his card.

                “What the?” asked Chazz in shock.

                “He wasn’t in your graveyard, Jaden!” yelled Chazz.

                “Think again!”

                “Oh, yeah,” said Chazz after he thought about it.

                “And like I said, it’s not just him, cuz when Hero Kid is special summoned, just like he was by that grave of enkindling, well than, Chazz, I get to call out every other Hero Kid that I have in my deck! And now, I’ll throw down a facedown and call it a turn!”

                “Heh. I see,” said Chazz with a smirk. “By playing three monsters, you think I’ll have to discard three cards to destroy them, right? You wish! I don’t have to discard three cards. I just have to play one!”

                “Ok. This is bad,” said Syrus.

                “Alright! Here goes!” said Chazz as he drew a card. “I activate the spell card Level Up!”

                “Uh-oh,” said Jaden.

                “What it does is let me level up a monster! And I choose Armed Dragon, now Level 7!” laughed Chazz.

                “No, with that, Chazz can destroy all of Jaden’s monsters again!” said Zane causing Syrus to shudder.

                “This is Jaden we’re talking about, he should have something,” said Rose, trying to be confident.

                “Chazz it up!” called the North Academy students.

                “I’ve been waiting a long time to tell you this, Jaden, so listen up!” called Chazz. “I got my game on, and I’m about to turn yours off!”

                “That’s it baby!” yelled the producer, “The whole world is watching you shine!”

                “Then keep in rolling because you ain’t seen nothing yet,” said Chazz. “Next I’ll throw the equip spell card Armed Changer! Now, simply by discarding another equip spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can activate this baby! And equip it to my dragon! Now, Armed Dragon attack! Dragon Driller!”

                The attack landed and destroyed Wildheart, leaving Jaden at 300 life points.

                “And now Armed Changer’s effect activates,” said Chazz arrogantly. “See, when he takes down a monster in battle it lets me bring a monster back from my grave to my hand just so long as it doesn’t have more attack points than the monster it destroyed. And I think that I’ll bring back Masked Dragon! But he won’t be around for long because now I’m going to use Armed Dragon Level 7’s special ability!”

                “Aww man,” whined Syrus as the others started in shock.

                “That ability will send Masked Dragon to the graveyard and then crush any beast with less attack points,” said Zane.

                “Now, Armed Dragon, trounce those triplets!” yelled Chazz. “Serrated Sonic Disks!”

                “No,” said Alexis.

                “Looks like your Hero Kids just got grounded!” laughed Chazz. “Grounded up! Tell you what, if you surrender now, I promise not to embarrass you on global TV! Oh wait! I already did!”

                “Hey, it’s not that funny!” said Syrus.

                “Jaden keep fighting! Don’t give up!” yelled Shepard.

                “Who’s giving up?” asked Jaden. “I mean, I’m havin’ way to much fun to give up! After all, that’s what duelin’s all about, win or lose. Cuz if you’re havin’ fun, you win every time!”

                “Gag me,” replied Chazz.

                “It’s true! And if I can have fun right now losing, shouldn’t you be able to winning?” asked Jaden. “It’s seriously not that hard despite what your brothers may want you to believe.”

                “What?! What do you know about my brothers?” yelled Chazz in anger.

                “Well, for starters, Chazz, I know they’re the ones you’re dueling for and the ones puttin’ all this pressure on ya, too,” said Jaden, causing Chazz to growl. “Come on Chazz, remember when ya dueled for the excitement of it?”

                “I only duel to win!”

                “Well, we’ll see where that gets ya!” yelled Jaden as he drew a card. I play, The Warrior Returning Alive! Now I can bring a warrior back from the grave and to my hand. And I think I’ll choose, my favorite feathered friend, Elemental Hero Avian! And then, with Polymerization and Burstinatrix, I’ll make the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!”

                “So? He doesn’t stand a chance against my monster!” gloated Chazz. “After all, The Armed Dragon Level 7 has 2,800 attack points! You’re way outmatched!”

                “Wrong Chazz! Cuz I’m inviting; my three Hero Kids to come back out and play!” said Jaden with a smirk, causing everyone to gasp.

                “To play?” asked Chazz.

                “Yeah! With your points!” yelled Jaden. “I play miracle kids! Here’s how it works: for every Hero Kid I’ve got in the grave, your Armed Dragon loses 400 attack points and since I have three, Armed Dragon’s attack points decrease by 1,200! Now who’s outmatched? Actually, don’t answer that Flame Wingman will for ya!”

                Duel Academy cheered as Chazz’s life points went down to 1,600.

                “All right!” said Syrus in happiness. “Jaden just took out the Armed Dragon with just one attack!”

                “And the assault’s not over yet, Syrus!” said Bastion in seriousness. “The Flame Wingman still has his super power! It comes next.”

                “Yeah, and it’s going to really burn Chazz!” said Alexis with a smile.

                “His life points will now take damage equal to his destroyed monster’s attack points,” said Rose with a grin. “1,600!”

                “NO!” yelled Chazz as his life points went down to zero.

                “That’s game!” said Jaden as Duel Academy cheered for him.

                “Way to go Jaden!” said Rose with a smile, but it dropped when she noticed Chazz’s brothers walk onto the stage.

                “You loser. You dog!” said one of the brothers, Slade. “You’ve disgraced yourself. You’ve disgraced the Princeton name!”

                “You are no brother of our anymore!” said the other, Jagger. Everyone in the stadium started to quiet down to watch the scene.

                “Just give me another chance,” said Chazz in desperation.

                “Another Chance?” asked Jagger in anger. “Do you know how much we spent on this duel!?”

                “The cameras! The rare cards!!” yelled Slade. “None of which you used, I might add!”

                “Sorry,” said Chazz in sadness, “I thought I could win this by myself.”

                “Yourself?” asked Jagger as he picked Chazz up by his collar.

                “When could you do anything by yourself, Chazz!” yelled Slade.

                **‘What the fuck kind of brothers are those? Who says that to their younger sibling?’** thought Rose in anger.

                “Let him go!” said Jaden in a forceful voice.

                **‘Damn, who knew Jaden could get angry,’** thought Rose in shock as she and her group of friends stood behind Jaden on stage.

                “Yeah, sure he lost, but how could he not with you two jerks breathin’ down his neck?”

                “Two jerks?” asked Jagger in annoyance. “Do you have any idea who we are? We can have you crushed kid!”

                “Why defend Chazz?” asked Slade as he looked at the group. “He’s a nobody now. Disowned by us and by the whole world! I mean, the cameras caught enough of it! He got schooled! He got mopped up!”

                “That’s right,” said Jagger as he pulled Chazz closer to his face, “and then, worst of all, he got beat.”

                “Wrong, there’s one fight he did win,” said Jaden with anger as the rest of the group glared at the brothers. “The fight, against you two! Sure, Chazz may not have won the duel, but hey, at least he fought it on his own terms! It’s like he said: he used his cards, not what your money could buy!”

                “Right on Jaden!” said Crowler as he cried. “I mean, you no-good Slifer Slacker”

                **‘Why is he crying?’** question Rose in her head.

                “Tight duel, Chazz,” said Jaden as Chazz was let go. “And I know it’s cheesy, but I think the truth of it is, we both won here.”

                “You’re just saying that,” said Chazz in anger. “I mean, come on, nobody else believes that.”

                “Chazz,” said Rose in sadness.

                “We do Chazz,” said someone in the crowed. This caused others in the crowed to start cheering for him. Chazz’s brothers then left.

**_~ That Evening~_ **

                “Well, this is good bye Chazz, don’t forget to write,” said Jaden with a smile.

                “Jaden, I’m not going back,” said Chazz, causing the boys from North Academy to gasp as he then explained that he belonged at Duel Academy.

                “Well, this is unexpected,” said Rose as they watched Chancaler Sphered get a kiss.

                “Yeah,” said Bastion and Alexis in agreement. The group then turned to watch the submarine leave.

                “There is one thing, Chazz,” said the Chancaler.

                “What’s that?” asked Chazz.

                “Banner.”

                “Since you dropped out of Duel Academy and are now coming back, you are technically a new student. And therefore, must start from the bottom: at Slifer Red!” said Banner in a cheery voice.

                “SLIFER!” yelled Chazz in shock,

                “Yes! Welcome! We’ll get you fitted for a blazer as soon as we get back to the dorm. Then, we’ll find you a roommate.”

                “Roommate!? Look here, Chazz Princeton rooms alone! You guys got that?”

                “Alone, huh? Do cockroaches count?” asked Syrus in a mocking voice and a smile on his face.

                “What?!”

                “The dorms got a few, and some rats,” said Jaden in a cheerful voice.

                “RATS! I change my mind! Turn the sub around!” cried Chazz.

                “Guys! How ‘bout we give him the Slifer cheer!” said Jaden as he turned to the group, obviously having fun messing with Chazz.

                “I don’t want it!” yelled Chazz at Jaden as the Slifer’s began to cheer.

                “Well then, this has definitely been an eventful day,” said Rose as she laughed.

                “Indeed, it has,” said Bastion with a smirk as they watched Chazz try to strangle Jaden.

                **‘We are one big dysfunctional family, that’s for sure,’** thought Rose with a smile.


	14. Grave Risk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode(s): 27-28

                **‘I wonder if Professor Banner is okay?’** thought Rose as she looked at Banner after the explosion he caused.

                “Well, that’s the bell,” said Alexis as she looked at Rose.

                “OH!” said Banner. “I almost forgot. I’m, uh, planning a little field trip!”

                “Great. To where?!” asked Jaden in excitement. “Circus, carnival?!”

                “Even Better! We’re taking a ten-mile hike! All the way to the excavated ruins, were we’ll be taking geologic core samples! Saturday at 7 a.m. Don’t be late!”

**_~Saturday at 7 A.M.~_ **

                “Only five?! Where is everyone else?” said Banner in distress as he looked at the only four students who showed up: Jaden, Rose, Chumley, and Syrus.

                “They’re probably sleeping, professor,” said Syrus. “You know, in their nice, warm beds? With their nice comfy pillows.”

                “Just like I would be doin’ if Banner didn’t threaten us with detention if we didn’t show!” said Chumley in annoyance. “It’s 7 a.m. in the morning, I need my beauty sleep.”

                “Hmm. I’ll tell ya what the secret to getting’ up early is,” said Jaden as he turned to Rose with a smile, “stayin’ up all night long!”

                “To tell you the truth, we could hardly sleep too,” said Alexis as she smiled at Jaden.

                “Yeah, the ruins we’re going to used to host the shadow games!” said Rose in excitement as she smiled at Jaden, causing him to smile more.

                “That’s sweet!” he said to her before turning to look at Alexis. “Maybe you can find some clues, you know, about your brother!”

                “Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m hoping for,” said Alexis as she looked down at the ground.

                “Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins,” said Banner as everyone looked at their devices. “Inside is an ancient tomb!”

                **‘How interesting,’** thought Rose as she went through the pictures on her device.

                “Ok everyone. Let’s go!” said Banner as he started to walk toward the ruins with everyone fallowing him.

**_~After Some Time Hiking~_ **

                “If someone doesn’t shut Chumley up soon, we are going back with one less person,” said Rose in annoyance as the others looked at her scared.

                “Oh, look! We’re finally here!” said Banner in happiness as he looked forward. He then turned to look at the group. “Isn’t it just amazing!”

                “They look all ruined!” said Jaden with wide eyes and a smile.

                “That’s cuz they’re ruins,” said Alexis as she and Rose laughed.

                “It’s in the name, Jay,” said Rose, causing Jaden to rub his head in embarrassment.

                “It’s beautiful!” said Banner. “You can still make out the faded remains of the Oculus! Ohh! And the Fastigium! No doubt inspired by Amenemhet of Saqqarah!”

                “He sure seems excited to see some rocks,” said Syrus as he and Chumley sat down.

                “Yeah, well I’m excited to sit down,” said Chumley with an attitude.

                “Yeah, and while we’re at it, how about we chow down!” said Jaden in excitement.

                “I don’t see why not,” said Banner as he looked at the group. “And then, we’ll hit a few cenotaphs, some caryatids, a couple sarcophaguses. Or is it sarcophagi?”

                **‘I’m so happy to be eating,’** thought Rose as she took a bite of her rice ball, ignoring everything else around her.

“Wait!” yelled Jaden as he stood up and turned to Banner. “You get to eat pizza!”

“I’m a teacher! I need a big meal to do teacher stuff!” said Banner as he held his bag to him. He searched in his bag, only to see the Pharaoh had eaten his pizza. He turned to his students with tears in his eyes. “Maybe you could share your lunch with me?”

“Sorry, we’re your students. We need these to learn!” said Jaden as everyone looked at Banner with their eyes closed.

“Yeah, like learn you weren’t gonna share!” said Chumley.

“But of course, I was going to share,” said Banner.

“Share what?” asked Rose as she glared at the teacher. “Pepperoni breath all day?”

“Look, I have mints!” said Banner as he tried to bribe his students, only to be interrupted by green lights shooting out from the floor.

“What’s going on?” asked Jaden as they all watched in shock.

“That’s one powerful mint!” said Chumley as they all looked up.

“Is anyone else seeing in triplicate?” asked Banner as the moon, or sun, they couldn’t really tell, split into threes.

“This is the most licious field trip ever!”

“Oh, wow,” said Syrus as they all looked up, impressed. “That’s neato!

 ** _‘Hmm,’_** hummed Rose Guardian as she appeared near Rose.

 **‘Run? But why?’** thought Rose in return.

“But it looks so cool,” said Jaden.

“Quick children!” yelled Banner, scaring everyone. “Head for cover!”

They all turned and ran. Going toward the ruins.

“We will find safety over in that Sepulcher!” yelled Banner.

“The what?” yelled the students.

“The thing with the hole in it!”

“Jaden! Let’s go!” yelled Rose as she grabbed Jaden’s hand when she noticed he had stopped and everyone had run past him. He didn’t look at her but looked at everyone hiding.

“You guys stay in there,” he said as he tightened his grip on Rose’s hand, “We’ll lead this storm away!”

“Rose! Jaden!” yelled Alexis in shock as Jaden pulled Rose with him.

“Where is he going? And why take Rose? At least let her save herself!” freaked out Chumley.

“He’s going nuts!” said Syrus as he looked at the other two of his friends.

Jaden ran as he pulled Rose with him. The two ran for a while until the lights caught up with them.

“Ughh!” said the two as they were surround in a bright light, and everything went dark.

**_~After Some Time~_ **

                “Hmm,” mumbled Rose as she opened her eyes. She looked around to see Jaden next to her, looking forward.

                “Whoa,” he said, “think I took a wrong turn.”

                “What’s going on?” asked Rose as she sat up.

                Kuriboh made a noise of agreement while Rose Guardian looked over the two humans.

                “Yeah, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Kuriboh,” said Jaden as he nodded.

                “What’s that?” asked Rose as she turned to look behind her.

                “It’s the entrance to the ruins,” said Jaden as he stood next to her, “but it’s not. . . ruined.”

                “We can’t be dreaming. That would be crazy,” said Rose as she looked at Jaden and Kuriboh.

                “To bad you can’t just pinch my cheeks so I can wake up, huh?” said Jaden with a laugh as Kuriboh then pinched him. This shocked the two students. “Ow! Did you sharpen those? How about a manicure ever once and a while?”

                “I think our biggest concern should be: how are you able to feel him!” said Rose as she smacked Jaden.

                “This is a first!” yelled Jaden as he grabbed Kuriboh, only to be stopped when someone cleared their throat.

                “This is sacred ground! You must leave here immediately,” said a women as she looked at the two. “You are in very grave danger.”

                “Wow. What dorm are those cloths from?” asked Jaden.

                “None,” replied Rose as she narrowed her eyes. The women looked to her side in shock and rushed forward, grabbing the bag on the floor and holding onto Rose’s right arm, causing Rose to grab Jaden with her left hand.

                “Hey!” yelled Jaden as he and Rose were pushed into the wall/

                “Quiet!” said the women as she put her hand on their shoulders. “Or do you wish to share the other’s fate?”

                “What other’s?” asked Jaden as he pulled Rose closer to his side, causing her to blush.

                “Shh!” said the women.

                “Huh?” said Jaden as the women pressed closer to them. They listened and then watched as strange men walked by.

                “They dress weirder than Dr. Crowler!” said Jaden, in shock.

                “What’s going on here?’ asked Rose as she glared at the women as said women began to explain the danger their friends were in.

                “Take us to them, right now!” said Jaden in anger.

                “So be it, you were warned,” said the women as she gave Jaden back his backpack. She then turned and started to walk away.

                As they walked, they talked about how they got to that place as well as Jaden talked about getting a tan, causing Rose to hit him.

                “That’s not important now!” she said, making him laugh nervously.

                “You will wait here,” said the women as she led the two to a room.

                “No, we won’t!” yelled Jaden in anger. “We want to see our friends!”

                “I will find them,” said the women, leaving no room for argument. “Believe me, if you’re found walking about, you will be of no use to them. I’ll be back.”

                “Fine,” said Jaden as Rose looked around.

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

                The two were just sitting on the floor when Jaden started freaking out while being angry at the same time.

                **‘I don’t know if I should be impressed with that or not,’** thought Rose as she watched Jaden climb up to look through the hole above them. She sweat drop when she looked up at him. She was about to say something when she noticed someone in front of her.

                “Shit,” she said as she stood up and was about to call for Jaden when one of the men grabbed her and covered her mouth.

                “What do you think Rose?” asked Jaden as he got down to talk to her, only to notice he was surrounded. “Oh fuck!”

                “Where’s my manners?” asked Jaden with a nervous smile as he had spears pointed at him. “My name is Jaden Yuki! And your name would be?”

                “I’m the Gravekeeper Chief,” said the lead man as he looked at Jaden, “and you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect.”

                “Sounds good to me, pal!” said Jaden with a nervous smile. “So how about I just go an grab my friend’s downstairs and you give me Rose and we’ll say our good-byes to you then zip back to the dimension we came from. . .”

                “That is not possible.”

                “And why not!?”

                “Because, fool, you have tread upon my domain,” said the man, “and you will be punished, along with your friends.”

                Jaden attempted to argue with the man, but once he saw a spear being put to Rose’s neck, he stopped and glared.

                “Leave her alone!” he yelled in anger.

                “You show some spirit, stranger,” said the Gravekeeper Chief. “I shall pardon your trespasses given you can survive my challenge. What is your answer?”

                “Well, what’s the challenge?” asked Jaden as the Chief took out a deck.

                “A duel?” said Jaden in shock and happiness.

                **‘Why a duel?’** thought Rose. ‘ **I mean, I get that we go to a school for dueling, but why can’t it be like a fight or something?’**

                “Buried alive! Then who will save my friends!?” yelled Jaden in shock.

                “Don’t worry, they will be buried along with you!” laughed the evil man.

**_~New Location~_ **

                The group moved to a new location for the duel. Rose being tied up and put into a sarcophagus alongside her friends.

                “Hey guys,” said Rose with a smile.

                “Don’t be happy!” yelled Syrus as he freaked out.

                “Don’t worry, Jaden is dueling so we are bound to get out soon,” said Alexis. Rose sighed.

                “What’s wrong Rose?” asked Banner.

                “I’m just upset that I got caught,” she said as they looked up to see the duel. **‘Though I’m more worried with how we even got here in the first place. And where did that women go?’**

                **‘Hmm,’** said Rose Guardian as she appeared next to Rose. **‘I’m sorry for not warning you beforehand.’**

                **‘It’s fine,’** thought Rose in return. **‘I feel like we were brought here for a reason, but what could that reason?’**

                “Hello! No joke it’s real!” said Banner as the sarcophaguses closed a little.

                “I guess every time Jaden gets attack, they close,” said Rose out loud.

                “I’m claustrophobic! For real!” said Syrus.

                “Yeah, so am I!” said Chumley.

                “It’s only just started, yet he is already down to 1,500 life points!” said Rose in shock.

                “This is bad,” said Alexis.

                “We have to hope for the best,” said Banner.

                “If he makes even a couple more mistakes, we’re through!” said Alexis in fright.

“Alright! Make your move! The quicker I win this thing, the quicker I get my friends back!” said Jaden in determination.

                “He will win! He has to! Besides, he would never just leave us here,” said Rose as she tried to remain calm.

                “Yes, let us all listen to Rose,” said Banner before he started to freak out. “Though, I am scared right now!”

                **‘Was he trying to make us feel better?’** thought the students with sweat drops.

                “It’s a good thing I have those mints!” yelled Banner as the sarcophaguses closed more, preventing the group from seeing what was going on during the duel.

                **‘I don’t think it matters,’** thought Rose as she closed her eyes.

                “I know Jaden can find a way!” said Rose.

                “I hope,” said Chumley and Syrus.

                “Oh, no. It’s no use! We’re done for!” said Banner, causing the two boys to freak out even more.

                “He’s still winning!” said Syrus as he pointed out the life points.

                “He has no monsters on the field!”

                “Shut up!” said Rose in annoyance.

                “Yes ma’am,” said the two scared males.

                “Note to self, never piss of Rose,” mumbled Chumley to himself.

                “Do you think Jaden can do this?” asked Alexis to Rose.

                “I know he can!” said Rose. “The worst part is I can’t see what’s going on now!”

                “I still have a good view,” said Syrus. “It’s a good thing that Kuriboh was there!”

                “You can say that again, Sy!” said Chumley. “His effect makes it so Jaden doesn’t take any damage during the turn that he’s destroyed.”

                “That’s true,” said Alexis. Now we just have to worry about next turn.”

                “Now Jaden doesn’t have any monsters out!” said Rose in realization.   **‘I really wish I could see what was going on!’**

                “Does this guy have a problem with the way Jaden speaks?” asked Syrus in confusion.

                “From the sound of it, I would have to say yes,” said Banner with a sweat drop.

                “Wait! Did he just say summon himself? Someone tell me what the hell is going on!” yelled Rose in annoyance. “Does that count as cheating?”

                “Behold! The power of the shadow game!” said the Gravekeeper Chief.

                “Shadow game?” said Jaden in shock. “Is that what this is?”

                “Yes! And in a matter of time, you, your life points, and your friends will be gone!” he said as the sarcophagus nearly closed.

                “JADEN!” yelled Rose in fear. **‘I may not of been claustrophobic before, but I might just end up being so when this is done.’**

                “IT’S CLOSEING MORE!” yelled Syrus in fear.

                “JADEN!” yelled everyone as it sounded like Jaden was crying.

                “Hahaha! I’m having a blast!” said Jaden.

                “Your friends’ lives hang by but a thread, and you, you say, that you are having a blast!?” asked the Gravekeeper Chief with a smirk.

                “Ya got that right!” said Jaden as he stood up. “Cuz no thread’s about to be cut, I’m just one turn away from winnin’ this duel!”

                “You are wrong! And once you see what I’m about to play, you will see why!”

                “Come on Jaden!” yelled Banner.

                “Don’t lose!” yelled Chumley.

                “At least try to say something supportive,” said the girls in annoyance.

                “Have you not met me?” asked Chumley,

                “He has a point,” said Syrus.

                “If Jaden is unable to summon a monster, we are all doomed!” said Banner.

                “I use Nightshades special ability from the graveyard! It allows me to summon a monster without any sacrifices, one time! And one time is all I need because I summon Elemental Hero BladeEdge!” yelled Jaden as he summoned his monster. “And now, attack Gravekeepers Curse!”

                “What’s going on!” yelled Syrus as they felt everything around them move.

                “Jaden won!” yelled Rose as the sarcophagi’s opened for her.

                “We’re free!” said Syrus in happiness.

                “Whoa, turn down the lights man,” said Chumley.

                “I love light! Light is my friend!” said Banner.

                “They disappeared,” said Alexis as hers and everyone else’s bindings disappeared.

**_~A Few Minutes Later~_ **

                “Way to play, Jay!” yelled Syrus.

                “I knew you would pass this test, Jaden! I just knew it!” said Banner.

                **‘Yeah right,’** thought the other students.

                “Wait, what do you meant test? Don’t you mean challenge?” asked Jaden.

                “Yes, of course, test, challenge, it is all the same, am I right?” said Banner as his students turned to look at him. “All that matters is you won! Isn’t that right, guys?”

                “Well then, it’s time for you and your friends to return to your own world,” said the Gravekeeper Chief.

                “Sounds good to me!” said Jaden as he turned to look at the man. “So, how do we get back?”

                “Go to the gate of the tomb just as the three lights combine into one so that the veil of radiance appears before you.”

                “Oh-kay?” said Jaden, completely confused.

                “What’s happening?” asked Rose as she turned to see the guards coming up to them. Jaden and the others turned to see what she was talking about.

                “Fools! What are you doing?” asked the Chief.

                “They must be punished, either by you or by us!” said one of the guards, causing the others to start to huddle up.

                “Punish! Punish!” they chanted.

                “What the?” said Jaden in shock as he backed up.

                “Stop! He has paid for his misdeeds, he has passed the challenge!” said the Chief as he step in front of Jaden. “His freedom has been earned!”

                “Jaden!” yelled Rose as the guards got read to attack, only for them to be stopped by Gatekeepers Assailant.

                “It’s you!” said Jaden and Rose in shock as they saw the women’s face.

                “I’m sorry I fought you, but I had to obey my Chief,” she said.

                “Hey, it’s cool,” said Jaden as he looked at her.

                “Uh, hey Jaden,” said Syrus, catching his friend’s attention, “don’t you think it’s rude to not introduce me – I mean, us to your friend?”

                The others just sighed.

                “Go find your own friends,” said Jaden in an annoyed voice.

                “When you finally return to your world,” started Assailant, “please give a message to the owner of the other half. Tell him Yasmin is still in the other world, but I haven’t forgotten him. And that I believe that one day, we will meet again.”

                “Oh, boyfriend?” said Jaden as he scratched his cheek, causing the others to look at him.

                “You weren’t getting any ideas, were you?” asked Rose as she glared at him.

                “No ma’am!” said Jaden **. ‘You’re to cute for me to do that.’**

                 “Stand back! He has won the challenge and we must honor our word!” said Assailant to the other guards. We are the keepers of the graves, not the makers! If you want to harm any of them, you’ll have to go through me!”

                “They parted,” said Alexis as the group watch the men make a path for them.

                “I would hurry.”

                “For sure, but, uh, how do we leave again?” asked Jaden. She just turned to smile at the group.

                “Oh, I think some friends will help show you the way.”

                “Huh?” said Jaden and Rose as their monsters appeared.

                “They want us to follow!” said Rose as she started to run after them, causing the others to follow.

                “Thanks Yasmin!” yelled Jaden.

                “Let’s go students!” yelled Banner as everyone pushed themselves.

                “The lights! They’re combining! We’ve gotta hurry!” yelled Jaden as they neared the entrance of the ruins.

                “Ah!” yelled Chumley as he fell.

                “Chumley! Are you okay?” asked Jaden as he ran back to him.

                “Old tricycle injury,” said Chumley, holding his leg.

                **‘Why don’t I believe that?’** questioned everyone else.

                “Just go without me! You don’t have time to wait!” he said as they all looked up.

                “Let’s go, Chumley!” said Jaden as he went to pull him up, only for one of Chumley’s monsters to pull him up and run him to the entrance, causing the others to follow.

                “It’s now or never, guys! Let’s make tracks!” yelled Jaden.

                As they got to the entrance, green lights shot up into the air, surrounding them in their light. The group screamed as they began to disappear.

**_~Back In The Normal World~_ **

                “Hmm?” hummed Jaden as he opened his eyes. He turned to his right and noticed Rose resting her head on his shoulder. “Hey, guys?”

                He carefully moved Rose so that she was sitting up on her own and turned to look at everyone else. He then looked down and noticed his Winged Kuriboh card on the floor. He picked it up and tried to wake everyone up, but then stopped to let them sleep.

                “Must of all just been a hallucination from those moldy sandwiches,” he said as he looked at his chest, only to notice the amulet he had been given. “or not. Well, at least we’re back to only having one sun. Even so, I have a feeling that the shadows will be back.”


End file.
